Although Pakistan pretends to want to work on counter-terrorism, even with the new Trump administration, it is a known state sponsor of terrorism. Now, Pakistan is proving its true face by not freeing a doctor who is “believed to have helped the CIA hunt down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.”
“Pakistan will not free doctor who helped U.S. find bin Laden”, by Mehreen Zahra-Malik, Reuters, January 18, 2017:
A jailed Pakistani doctor believed to have helped the CIA hunt down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden will be neither released nor handed to the United States, Pakistan’s law minister has told legislators, media reported on Wednesday.
Dr. Shakil Afridi, hailed as a hero by U.S. officials, was arrested after U.S. forces killed bin Laden in May 2011 in a secret raid in a northern Pakistani town that plunged relations between the uneasy strategic partners to a new low.
Pakistan has accused the doctor of running a fake vaccination campaign in which he collected DNA samples to help the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirm bin Laden’s identity.
Afridi was arrested soon after the bin Laden raid and charged with having ties to militant Islamists, which he denied.
“The law is taking its course and Afridi is having full opportunity of a fair trial,” the Daily Times newspaper quoted Law Minister Zahid Hamid as telling the upper house, in response to a lawmaker’s query about reports of a possible release.
“Afridi worked against the law and our national interest, and the Pakistan government has repeatedly been telling the United States that under our law he committed a crime and was facing the law.”
In 2012, Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison after being convicted of being a member of militant group Lashkar-e-Islam.
That conviction was overturned in 2013, but Afridi was then charged with murder, relating to the death of a patient eight years earlier. He remains in jail awaiting trial.
Many Pakistanis were infuriated by the U.S. raid to grab bin Laden in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, just a two-hour drive from Islamabad, the capital.
Pakistani officials describe bin Laden’s long presence in Abbottabad as a security lapse and reject any suggestion that members of the military or intelligence services were complicit in hiding him…

mortimer says
President Trump needs to aggressively pursue this matter to liberate this worthy hero. The world must see that the US is faithful to its friends. We know the reverse was true with Obama and the Hill-liar-y.
ElderlyZionist says
+100
tom parry says
Governments of the world stop giving your hard taxpayers money to foreign Govts. that only hate us.
That includes Saudi Arabia offering a mosque to every town!
JIMJFOX says
Pakistan is global central for taqiyya- an ‘ally’ of the west? What a sick joke.
Angemon says
I thought devout muslims were against vaccination?
Mark A says
Maybe a quiet word from Donald Trump to the President of Pakistan will get this man released and sent to the United States, where I’m betting he could be a worthwhile immigrant.
Pakistan receivies billions in aid money from the US each year so it’s not like the US is without leverage here.
Faqi says
Correct, Pakistan is the recipient of US Aid in a big way. Cut all that and they would come around.
David says
Hopefully this nonsense about Odrama killing Bin Laden will be out to rest soon. Bin Laden, as we all know, relied on a dialysis machine to survive. He died years ago.
Kathy Brown, Esq. says
‘Pakistan won’t free jailed doctor…’
Oh yes they will. And fast.
Carolyne says
I think you’re right, Ms. Brown. I remember the Iranians releasing our Embassy hostages during Ronald Reagan’s swearing in. He had sent word that something bad would happen if they didn’t.
Jayne Riley says
I’ve read other posts where Pakistanis trump up charges against anyone they want to punish. It’s a way of life for them. Why do we let these people into our countries? ‘You can say, ‘They’re not all the same’, but that’s like playing Russian Roulette with our lives.
jonfromca says
Why didn’t Obama pardon him too?