U.S. officials say Siddiqui was never at Bagram. Prosecutors contend that, in the summer of 2008, she appeared in Ghazni province in Afghanistan, where she was detained by Afghan police after they found in her bag bomb-making instructions and a list of New York landmarks.
At an Afghan police station, she was being questioned by U.S. soldiers and FBI agents when she picked up an M-4 rifle left unattended by an American soldier, prosecutors and witnesses said during the trial. She fired at the soldiers and agents, yelling "death to Americans," according to testimony at the trial.
Siddiqui fired two rounds before an Afghan interpreter wrested the gun from her, and a U.S. soldier shot her in the abdomen, according to testimony.
As the trial wound down, Siddiqui testified Thursday that she never picked up the rifle and was shot as she was trying to escape from the police station.
Jurors began deliberations this week. If convicted of the attempted murder charges, Siddiqui could be sentenced to life in prison. She is not facing any terrorism-related counts.
New York tabloids have splashed headlines that call Siddiqui "Lady Al Qaeda" and "Terror Mom." In Pakistan, news agencies have said the case comes down "to whether an American jury can acquit a woman with a scarf covering her face."
alex.rodriguez
@latimes.com
