The New Nation - Internet Edition

Yvonne Ridley

(From previous issue)

But no such respect and decency was given to Prisoner 650 - no, this sister was brutalized. She had to share the same open toilet as the men and there were no closed doors, or shower curtains when she wanted to wash.

No wonder Moazzam still hears her cries and screams today.

I also began to hear her cries and screams and so I came to Pakistan in July to ask for help.

I turned to Imran Khan, a great politician and a man of integrity - he agreed to organize a press conference, and was so moved by the mission to find Prisoner 650. I begged the media to help demand the release of Prisoner 650.

I pointed out that my story had made headlines and front page news for the entire 10 days of my captivity when I was captured by the Taliban after 9/11 simply because I am a white, western woman.

Back in Britain, Lord Nazir Ahmed answered my call for help. Not only did he submit a series of hard-hitting questions to the British Government, he roused the Pakistan media in London and announced that if Prisoner 650 was not released then he and I would go to the gates of Bagram and demand her release.

It was inevitable that people would assume Prisoner 650 was Dr Siddiqui and the awkward questions started to be asked after more than 100 media turned up at our scrambled press conference. A Cage Prisoner report was handed out giving the wider picture of the disappeared in Pakistan.

Then suddenly Dr Aafia Siddiqui emerged as though a magician had pulled a rabbit out of a hat - she emerged in a dazed and confused state outside the Governor of Gardez's offices in Afghanistan.

Imagine that … FIVE years after her disappearance in Karachi. And according to the FBI she was carrying in her handbag pieces of bomb-making equipment and photographs of various landmarks in New York City.

What nonsense and how dare the FBI insult our intelligence this way.

Of course the FBI lost much of its credibility when its chief J Edgar Hoover was revealed to be a transvestite who preferred to wear a red dress and be called by the name of Mary.

Hoover, probably one of the most powerful men in America was the originator of dirty tricks campaigns, lies and deceits and his legacy lives on.

Even today US intelligence officers live in a fantasy world but instead of mincing around in red frocks they spend their time dressing up the truth with layer after layer of lies.

Sadly most of the American people have no idea what has, and still is, being done in their name.

If they knew the truth they would be disgusted like the rest of us, so please do not vent your anger on ordinary US citizens, they are as much victims of the Bush Administrations lies as the rest of us.

This was quite evident with the story of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

It is no coincidence that Cage Prisoners had raised the issue of Dr Siddiqui less than two weeks before.

Many of you know Dr Siddiqui's story - she had been shot by a brave US soldier at close range after she managed to overpower one of his colleagues and fire a gun twice. This woman is less than 70 pounds. This story is rubbish.

If you want the truth she was shot three times - once in the back, by two US soldiers and she NEVER attempted to wrestle any of them or disarm them.

They actually left her for 15 minutes to bleed to death - they shot to kill, but it was the insistence of Afghans at the scene that resulted in medical treatment and surgery.

The US authorities had no right under international law to then cart off this injured victim to America - imagine that t the victim is now back in the hands of her abusers.

But you know what makes this even worse - while our sister lies in agony waiting to be tried for nonsense charges in an American court, two of her children, a babe in arms and toddler (at the time of their disappearance), are still missing. Where are they?

And I'll tell you something else which should make your blood run cold. The Americans have now admitted that the Grey Lady of Bagram does exist.

But Dr Aafia Siddiqui is NOT Prisoner 650, the Grey Lady of Bagram. We still do not know who Prisoner 650 is. We do not know where she is, and we do not know how many other Pakistani women are being held as female enemy combatants - yes, that is what the pentagon calls them: Female Enemy Combatants.

Today I am begging each and every one of you, as your sister in Islam, to help me find Prisoner 650.

If you remain silent I may never find her. But I tell you something now - I can hear her screams and when you go to bed tonight so will you.

Have we all sunk so low that the cries of this sister remain unanswered? The time has come when the people of Pakistan need to restore pride to this great country. You here today can set the agenda. You here today can make a change. You here today can get rid of those rotten politicians and their weasel words.

Those in power only seem great because they try and keep you on your knees. Rise up and bow to no one but Allah. When the people lead, the leaders will follow.

(Yvonne Ridley is a British renowned journalist, captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, while on assignment with the London's Sunday Express in 2001. She subsequently converted to Islam and now works for the Iranian-based 24-hour English language news channel Press TV, where she fronts her own London-based current affairs show, The Agenda. She was a regular contributor and columnist of defunct Muslims Weekly-New York, the parent newspaper of DailyMuslims.com. She continues her column for DailyMuslims.com.)