The government of Pakistan offered to trade a CIA contractor currently jailed in that country for a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected by U.S. intelligence to be an al Qaeda operative.
Ahh. Now we know why they accused him of passing nuclear-related "stuff" a bit ago. They were trying to put him on par with this gal.
According to a senior American administration official and a Pakistani official involved in the negotiations to free CIA contractor Raymond Davis, the Pakistani government proposed trading Davis for Aafia Siddiqui, an MIT-educated Pakistani neuroscientist currently serving 86 years in federal prison for attempted murder.
| Dr. Siddique is a bit more than a mere operative. See here and here for details. Suffice it to say, she is a true daughter of modern Pakistan, a national treasure like Dr. A. Q. Khan. |
The offer was immediately dismissed by the U.S. government. "The Pakistanis have raised it," the U.S. official said. "We are not going to pursue it."
The proposal is the latest in a series of efforts to break an impasse between Washington and Islamabad over Davis.
| Actually, it looks more like an attempt to break the impasse over Siddique. |
The CIA contractor has been held by Pakistani authorities since late January for shooting and killing two men he says were following his car and tried to rob him. |