HOSTAGE CRISIS AT US SYNAGOGUE ENDS; GUNMAN DEAD

Sun 16 January 2022:

The hostage crisis at a synagogue in the United States has come to a end. According to Governor Greg Abbott, all of the hostages were liberated on Saturday night after being kept captive for hours inside the Texas synagogue.

It’s been nearly 12 hours since the standoff began. “Prayers answered. Abbott tweeted, “All hostages are alive and safe.”

A loud noise, which sounded like gunfire, was reported coming from the synagogue not long ago.

Soon after these announcements, media outlets in the nearby cities of Fort Worth and Dallas reported that the hostage-taker, who earlier identified himself as Muhammad Siddiqui, was dead.

Update at 9:55pm: The SWAT situation in Colleyville is resolved and all hostages are safe. We continue to work in partnership with the FBI to finalize all details. We will be addressing the media staging area at Good Shepherd Catholic Church at 10:15pm with an update.

— Colleyville Police (@ColleyvillePD) January 16, 2022

The officials said the hostage-taker was heard demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who was sentenced in 2010 to 86 years in prison on charges that she assaulted and shot at US military officers after being detained in Afghanistan.

The punishment had sparked outrage in Pakistan among political leaders and her supporters, who viewed her as victimised by the American criminal justice system. Siddiqui is in federal prison in Texas.

According to law enforcement authorities who spoke on the condition of anonymity, at least four hostages were believed to be inside the synagogue at the time.

The synagogue’s services were being livestreamed on its Facebook page for a time. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that an angry man could be heard ranting and talking about religion at times during the livestream, which did not show what was happening inside the synagogue.

The man could be heard repeatedly saying he did not want to see anyone hurt and that he believed he was going to die, the newspaper said.

According to the Colleyville Police Department, one hostage was released unharmed shortly after 5 p.m. The man was expecting to be reunited with his family because he did not require medical attention.

An official stated the rabbi of the synagogue was also thought to be among the hostages. The suspect claimed to be armed, but investigators were unable to verify this.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he was monitoring the situation closely.

“We pray for the safety of the hostages and rescuers,” he wrote on Twitter.

The officials told AP that the hostage-taker also said he wanted to be able to speak with Siddiqui.

ABC News, citing an official briefed on the matter, had previously said the hostage-taker was claiming to be Siddiqui’s brother.

The perpetrator has yet to be identified.

An official said a rabbi in New York City received a call from the rabbi, who is thought to be held prisoner at the synagogue, demanding Siddiqui’s release. The rabbi of New York City contacted 911 to report the call.

People were evacuated from the nearby neighborhood when the FBI arrived, according to FBI Dallas spokesperson Katie Chaumont.

Faizan Syed, the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Dallas Fort-Worth Texas, told AP that Siddiqui’s brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, was not involved. Syed said CAIR’s support and prayers were with the people being held in the synagogue.

Dr Aafia has nothing to with the incident: attorney

The attorney who represents Dr Siddiqui said “she has absolutely no involvement with” the hostage-taking and the perpetrator was not Siddiqui’s brother.

“She does not want any violence perpetrated against any human being, especially in her name,” Marwa Elbially told CNN by phone. “It obviously has nothing to do with Dr Siddiqui or her family.”

“Whoever the assailant is, we want him to know that his actions are condemned by Dr Siddiqui and her family,” Elbially said. “We implore you to immediately release the hostages and turn yourself in.”

John Floyd, who heads the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and a legal counsel for Dr Siddiqui’s brother said: “This antisemitic attack against a house of worship is unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.”

They also said that they wanted to “make it very well known that the hostage-taker is NOT Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s brother, who is not even in the same region where this horrible incident took place. Dr Aafia Siddiqui and her family strongly condemn this act and do not stand by the perpetrator.

They said that Dr Siddiqui’s family has always stood firm in advocating for the release of their sister from incarceration by legal and non-violent means only.

Before the media reported the suspect’s death, CAIR and the Dr Siddiqui family’s legal counsel urged him to “immediately release the hostages and turn yourself in.”

Who is Dr Aafia Siddiqui?

The case of the mother-of-three is well known in every household in Pakistan from the most religious to the most secular … the majority of which have been demanding her repatriation for years. Now she is known as the Daughter of the Nation although her story has travelled well beyond Pakistan’s borders. Thousands of Muslim children have been named after her.

Siddiqui, who received her graduation degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University in biology and neuroscience while living in the US between 1991 and June 2002.

Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years of imprisonment by a US federal court in 2010, after she was convicted of firing at US troops in Afghanistan while in their custody and other six charges against her.

Her lawyers had requested a sentence of 12 years, while prosecutors had pressed for a life sentence.

Siddiqui’s family and supporters claim she was arrested in Pakistan and handed over to intelligence agencies, who then transferred her into US custody. Both US and Pakistani officials, however, claim that she was arrested in Afghanistan.

According to Yvonne Ridley, the British journalist, Dr Aafia is “Grey Lady of Bagram” – a ghostly female detainee who kept prisoners awake “with her haunting sobs and piercing screams”. In 2005 male prisoners were so agitated by her plight, she says, that they went on hunger strike for six days.

For campaigners such as Ridley, Siddiqui has become emblematic of dark American practices such as abduction, rendition and torture. “Aafia has iconic status in the Muslim world. People are angry with American imperialism and domination.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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