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US denies reports of Osama doc-Siddiqui prisoners exchange agreement

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ANI Islamabad
Last Updated : Jul 25 2013 | 1:45 PM IST

The US Embassy in Islamabad has denied reports of a prisoner swap deal with Pakistan involving neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

Earlier this month, Pakistani media reported that the US had offered Pakistan to sign a prisoner exchange agreement.

The agreement called for release of Pakistani prisoner Dr Shakil Afridi in exchange for the release of Dr Siddiqui.

According to Dawn News, Meghan Gregonis, a spokesman for the US embassy, said the United States government is not in discussions with the Government of Pakistan on a prisoner exchange or transfer involving Siddiqui.

On September 23, 2010 Siddiqui, a Pakistani imprisoned in the US, was sentenced by a US court to 86 years for having attempted to kill American soldiers. She is currently being held in a maximum-security prison in Texas, the report said.

The embassy spokesman said that Pakistan had requested her transfer back to the country in 2010.

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He added that they were not aware of a recent request from Pakistan to discuss her case, nor the case of Dr. Shakil Afridi.

Afridi, a Pakistani doctor, aided the CIA in tracking down former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad, the report said.

He was sentenced for committing treason and is currently being held at a prison in Peshawar, it added.

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First Published: Jul 25 2013 | 1:42 PM IST

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