| The United States-Pakistan Freedom Forum, a New-York group of Pakistani political workers, has criticised the visit of a Pakistani parliamentary delegation to the US to meet Aafia Siddiqui and visit the Guantanamo prison as 'wasteful and unnecessary'. In a statement, the group's spokesman Shahid Comrade said the Pakistani lawmakers appeared to be more interested in sightseeing, shopping and meeting friends and family. He said some of the members had supported past dictatorships and were very much part of the government that bore direct responsibility for sending Pakistanis to American prisons and detention camps. One lawmaker had spent most of his time with his children who were getting an expensive education in America, the spokesman said, adding the lawmaker did not even find the time to join the press conference at which some of the others were present. Comrade said one member was here with his wife. "At a time when Pakistan finds itself in dire economic straits, such visits are irresponsible and a mockery of those back home who cannot even afford to feed themselves and their families," the statement said. |