Obama may be asked to ensure release of Dr Aafia, other Pakistanis: JI

Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Sirajul Haq has urged the government to request the outgoing US President Obama to ensure release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui and other detained Pakistanis in the United States under special clemency. Talking to the media persons outside the Supreme Court here on Wednesday after attending the proceedings of the Panama Leaks case, Haq said that around 1,300 Pakistanis are detained in the US.
Sirajul Haq said that US President Obama who will relinquish his office on January 20 had already ordered the release of nearly 1,300 prisoners under his special powers. He said he was sure if the Foreign Office appeals to Obama for the clemency to Dr Aafia Siddiqui, there would be a positive response.
He said he would personally talk to the Foreign Ministry and also raise the issue in the Senate. He said that Dr Aafia Siddiqui is a respectable Pakistani lady who has been in US jail for no cause, and it is required for the government to make every effort for her release.
The JI chief repeated his demand that the Supreme Court's larger bench hearing the case should direct Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to stop working till the decision of the case. Haq said he was not demanding Prime Minister's resignation as it would be before time. However, he said that since four members of the Prime Minister's family have been named in the Panama leaks, he should be asked to stop functioning to ensure free and impartial probe into the matter by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other state institutions and agencies.
Haq said that rulers are the root cause of corruption and all other evils in the society, adding that plundering of public money could not be stopped without accountability of the rulers. He said that Panama Papers are genuine and the Prime Minister had admitted that the names of his sons were in these papers and had also offered himself for accountability. He said that bench hearing the Panama Leaks case comprises able and competent judges and the JI expects a good judgement from them.