A Manhattan federal court jury convicted a U.S. Pakistani scientist Wednesday of attempting to kill Americans while detained in Afghanistan in 2008.
Aafia Siddiqui, 37, who was educated in the United States was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder. In addition, she was convicted of armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and assault of U.S. officers and employees.
Prosecutors charged when FBI agents and U.S. soldiers attempted to question her, Siddiqui took out an Army riddle and shot at them. Prior to her arrest, U.S. Authorities had reportedly called Siddiqui an Al Qaeda sympathizer.
The jury reportedly deliberated for three days before finding Siddiqui guilty in the third week of her trial, which she often interrupted with incoherent courtroom outbursts.
Prosecutors said Siddiqui posed a grave threat to the U.S. since she allegedly had bomb-making instructions in her possession and a list of popular landmarks in New York City.
Siddiqui adamantly denied these charges and even took the stand during the trial, defying her attorney's orders. She claimed she had been tortured and held in a "secret prison" before her detention.
"I was never planning a bombing! You're lying!" she yelled while an Army captain testified.
.photo released by the FBI, Aafia Siddiqui is shown. A New York jury found Siddiqui guilty on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010 of seven counts of attempted murder for trying to kill Americans while she was detained in Afghanistan
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