Pakistani scientist gets 86 years in prison for attacking U.S. soldiers

Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani scientist convicted of trying to kill U.S. soldiers and federal agents in Afghanistan in 2008, was sentenced to 86 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman imposed the sentence today in New York on the American-educated Siddiqui. She was found guilty in February of grabbing a U.S. soldier's rifle and firing on soldiers and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents after being detained in Ghazni, Afghanistan, according to BusinessWeek.

Pakistan's prime minister called a female scientist convicted of opening fire on U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan a "daughter of the nation" today and vowed to bring the so-called "Lady al-Qaida" back home to Pakistan.

Many Pakistanis are angry at their government for failing to intervene in the case of Aafia Siddiqui, a 38-year-old Pakistani neuroscientist and mother of three who was sentenced Thursday to 86 years in a U.S. federal prison.

Demonstrations erupted after mosque prayers today in at least four Pakistani cities. Prime Minister Yousef Reza Gilani sought to tap into that anger in a speech to Parliament, which unanimously adopted a resolution calling for Siddiqui's repatriation, reports AOL News.