Siddiqui's 86-year jail term called outrageous

The harsh sentence drew condemnation from Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia. who called it outrageous.

Aafia Siddiqui, 38, was sentenced in US District Court in Manhattan by Judge Richard M. Berman, who said "significant incarceration is appropriate."

"Don't get angry," Siddiqui said in court to her supporters after the sentence was announced. "Forgive Judge Berman."

Berman responded, saying: "I wish more defendants would feel the way that you do."

The sentencing capped a strange legal odyssey that began two summers ago when Siddiqui turned up in Afghanistan. In February, she was convicted of grabbing a rifle and trying to shoot US interrogators in Afghanistan while yelling, "Death to Americans!"

She denounced the trial and said an appeal would be "a waste of time. I appeal to God."

The conviction touched off protests in Pakistan that resumed Thursday as hundreds chanted "Free Aafia!" at a rally in Karachi. Others demonstrated outside the Manhattan courthouse.

During a statement to the court Thursday, Siddiqui carried a message of peace. "I do not want any bloodshed. I do not want any misunderstanding. I really want to make peace and end the wars," she said.

Siddiqui said she was particularly upset by overseas reports that she was being tortured in a US prison. She said she was actually being treated well.

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