'Lady Qaeda,' Aafia Saddiqui, Found Gulty of Attempted Murder

Feb. 3, 2010— -- A New York jury convicted the so-called "Lady Qaeda" today of trying to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents and the MIT-trained neuroscientist ended her often raucous trial the way she began it, yelling at the jurors and shouting to the spectators.

Aafia Siddiqui threw up her arms after the jury found her guilty of attempted murder and heckled the jurors as they left the court room, shouting "This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America."

Siddiqui, 37, then turned toward spectators in the packed courtroom and said, "Your anger should be directed where it belongs. I can testify to this and I have proof."

Siddiqui's three week trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom was repeatedly interrupted by her outbursts which were frequently anti-Semitic rants or delusional theories. She was twice removed from her own trial by U.S. marshals.

The jury deliberated for three days before finding the U.S.-educated Pakistani mother of three guilty of attempted murder, armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and assault of U.S. officers and employees.

Though never charged with terrorism, U.S. authorities say Siddiqui was an Al Qaeda sympathizer who was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 carrying plans for a "mass casualty attack" on New York City landmarks including the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Prosecutors said that while being held for questioning at an Afghan police station in July 2008, she grabbed an unattended rifle, shouted "Allah Akbar," and fired two rounds at a U.S. soldiers and FBI agents before being shot in return.

Siddiqui denied the charges. "It's just ridiculous… I never attempted murder, no way. It's a heavy word," Siddiqui, said while on the stand while on the witness stand last week.

Her lawyers told jurors there was no ballistic, fingerprint or other physical evidence proving the weapon was "touched by Dr. Siddiqui, let alone fired by her."

A petite woman who kept all but her eyes hidden behind a white headscarf and veil, Siddiqui fought with her own lawyers to testify in her own defense. Her defense team told the court that Siddiqui was "driven by her severe mental illness" and feared she would incriminate herself. Prosecutors argued she was more cagey than crazy and should not be denied the right to defend herself if she chose.

'Lady Qaeda' Trial Interrupted by Her Outbursts

Her lawyers argued that putting Siddiqui on the stand would "turn the trial into a spectacle," but some observers could argue that the trial was turned into a spectacle weeks ago when jury selection began.

During jury selection last month, Siddiqui said she was "boycotting" the trial and demanded Jews be excluded from serving on the jury.

"I have a feeling everyone here is them [Jews], subject to genetic testing… They should be excluded if you want to be fair," she told federal Judge Richard Berman. That same day she tossed a note across the courtroom to prosecutors asking for time off to pray.

Last week, a soldier who was at the police station when Siddiqui allegedly began shooting, broke down on the witness stand while describing the injuries he sustained during his tour in Afghanistan.

Siddiqui interrupted his testimony, lunging across the table where she sat, and while pointing at the soldier shouted: "I was never planning a bombing! You're lying!"

The outburst resulted in two federal marshals restraining her, and ejecting her from the courtroom. It was the second time she was removed following an outburst.

Also last week, two jurors were excused from duty after they told the judge that a man in the visitors' gallery made a hand motion as if he were firing a gun at them and mouthed an obscenity.

One of the jurors told the judge he was "really freaked out" by the incident and another said he could not remain impartial "anytime anyone makes what I view as a death threat."

When she took the stand to testify, Siddiqui came off as combative and intelligent, but sometimes appeared to be bordering on the delusional.

She denied shooting soldiers and FBI agents with the unattended the M4 rifle saying: "What does an M4 look like?"

Siddiqui, who was shot in return by U.S. soldiers and taken to a military hospital, claims she was shot while trying to escape. She said she had been tortured in a secret prison and feared being taken back there.

She told jurors her case is an example of how authorities "frame people" and that she chose to testify because she alone "can end the war."

She said there were anonymous American agents acting against the interests of the U.S., people she called "fake Americans" who she could expose to end the war.