COLLEYVILLE, Texas — All hostages at a Texas synagogue have been safely recovered after an hours-long standoff with a lone suspect on Saturday the 15th.
The accused hostage-taker was reportedly British, according to the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. (Fox News)
The suspect allegedly made demands, asking that a Pakistani woman, Aafia Siddiqui, be freed from federal prison. Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence, convicted for premeditating an attack on U.S. military officers during her detainment in Afghanistan in 2008. Siddiqui is being held at a federal prison in Fort Worth, bordering the Colleyville synagogue.
Siddiqui, often called “Lady al Qaeda,” is described by the FBI as an “al-Qaeda operative and facilitator.” During an interview with authorities, Siddiqui had opened fire after taking a U.S. Army officer’s M4 rifle. (Fox News) Some Pakistani leaders protested her punishment, including the executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Faizan Syed. According to Fox News, Syed described Siddiqui’s punishment was being wrong and flawed.
An FBI hostage team was able to rescue all four hostages, including a rabbi, safely and reportedly shot the suspect dead after the 11-hour standoff. As of yet, the suspect’s identity has not been released to the public.
