ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Pakistanis took to the streets of Islamabad in protest of a U.S. court conviction of a scientist found guilty of attempting to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Aafia Siddiqui, dubbed Lady al-Qaida, was found guilty Wednesday by a Manhattan jury of trying to kill U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
Pakistani government officials reacted with outrage over the court decision as the Pakistani public grows increasingly suspicious of U.S. activity in their country.
Abdul Basit, a spokesman for the Pakistani foreign minister, said Islamabad was intent on getting Siddiqui returned to Pakistan, al-Jazeera reports.
"The ultimate objective is to get her back to Pakistan and we would do everything possible and we'll apply all possible tools in this regard," he said.
Siddiqui was missing for five years before her arrest in 2008. Her family believes she was held at the U.S. military facility at Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base, something Washington and Islamabad deny.
Islamabad had expressed frustration with Washington in recent months, in part because of controversy surrounding the use of unmanned aerial drones in the country.
Siddiqui, an American-educated neuroscientist, faces life in prison during May 6 sentencing. She maintains her innocence.
