US-trained scientist linked to al-Qaida booted again from NY trial; 2 jurors also removed

More discord at NY trial of al-Qaida supporter

NEW YORK — A U.S.-trained Pakistani scientist linked to al-Qaida got into trouble again Monday in federal court after twice interrupting the sometimes tearful testimony of an American solider who claimed he shot her in self defense in Afghanistan in 2008.

“I feel sorry for you,” Aafit Saddiqui blurted out at one point at her attempted murder trial in Manhattan. After a judge had deputy U.S. marshals remove her, she pointed at the witness and muttered something else before disappearing behind a side door.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman allowed Saddiqui to return later, but kicked her out again amid another rambling tirade about injustice. At the end of the day, the defense argued that the removals made her look bad in front of the jury and asked for a mistrial, which the judge denied.

“It’s highly appropriate for her to be escorted out of the courtroom when she acts out,” he said.

Siddiqui — a specialist in neuroscience who trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University — has insisted in previous courtroom rants that she’s innocent. She also has refused to work with her defense attorneys, including some paid for by the Pakistani government.

Authorities allege that Siddiqui, 37, is an al-Qaida supporter who was detained at an Afghan police station on July 18, 2008, after being caught carrying handwritten notes referencing a “mass casualty attack” and listing the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty and other New York City landmarks.

Before she could be interrogated in an Afghan police office, prosecutors say she managed to grab a military assault rifle set down by a U.S. Army soldier and open fire at American personnel, but missed. The soldier, a chief warrant officer, shot her with his pistol during a struggle.

On Monday, the officer appeared in uniform and used a cane as he limped into court to testify on condition that he not be identified. He began weeping as he recounted how a roadside bomb had left him severely injured and killed three fellow soldiers in the fall of 2008.

“Sometimes it’s a little hard to talk about this,” he said.

The officer was part of a team, including FBI agents, dispatched to investigate Siddiqui and negotiate her release into U.S. custody. Once there, he said he set down his rifle — a move characterized as a dangerous mistake in previous testimony by a U.S. Army captain.

The witness, however, said it was customary among Afghans to set aside weapons while conducting business.

“It was a show of trust, a show of respect,” he said.

He testified Afghan authorities had told him Siddiqui had been restrained, and was shocked when she sudden appeared from behind a curtain wielding his M4 rifle and yelling, “Allah akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.”

“It was pretty amazing she got that thing up and squared off,” he said. “She was looking at me and aiming dead at me.”

Hearing the rifle go off, the officer said he followed his military training and pulled his pistol. Siddiqui was wrestling with an interpreter when he shot her in the stomach.

“I operated within the rules of engagement to eliminate the threat,” he said.

Siddiqui’s outbursts weren’t the only disruptions of the day: The judge removed two jurors who told him in private that they couldn’t be impartial because a spectator had pointed at them and mouthed an obscenity. They were replaced and the man was barred from the courtroom.