Pakistan to free bin Laden doctor?

LAWYER’S RELEASE HOPE AS SHAKIL AFRIDI MOVED TO RAWALPINDI JAIL

PRISON authorities in Pa­kistan moved the jailed doctor believed to have helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden, his law­yer said last Saturday (28), speculating it could be a prelude to his release.

The continued imprison­ment of Dr Shakil Afridi has been a source of tension between Pakistan and the US, which cut military aid over accusations that Islamabad continues to shelter Taliban militants fighting US and Afghan soldiers across the border in Afghanistan.

A jail official in Peshawar said on condition of ano­nymity that Afridi had been transferred to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, but said the reasons were unclear and could simply be related to security.

Afridi’s lawyer, Qamar Nadeem, confirmed the trans­fer of his client, but said he was not sure where he was now. Jamil Afridi, the doc­tor’s brother, confirmed that he had been informed by government officials that “Shakil has been moved to a safer place”.

Judicial officials could not be reached for comment last week, nor could embassy officials for the US, which has for years called on Paki­stan to release Afridi.

President Donald Trump vowed during his election campaign that he would or­der Pakistan to free Afridi.

“I’m sure they would let them (him) out. Because we give a lot of aid to Paki­stan,” Trump told Fox News at the time, adding that Pa­kistan “takes advantage like everybody else”.

The comments sparked a blistering rebuttal from Pa­kistan, whose interior min­ister at the time branded Trump “ignorant”. He stat­ed that the “government of Pakistan and not Donald Trump” would decide Afri­di’s fate.

Afridi was accused of trea­son after word spread that he had helped the CIA col­lect genetic samples of the bin Laden family. It paved the way for a US Navy Seal raid in 2011 in the town of Abbottabad that killed the al-Qaeda leader accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

The doctor was arrested just days after the surprise US operation – which Paki­stan called a violation of its sovereignty – and charged with aiding terrorists.

Afridi was sentenced to 23 years’ jail for financing terrorism. That conviction was overturned in 2013, but he is still serving time for other terrorism-related convictions, his lawyer said.

In addition, he faced a murder trial related to the death of a patient more than a decade ago.

However, Nadeem said Afridi had recently had his latest sentence reduced to seven years in a clemency action, and had served about that amount of time already. “So I think he can be released very soon,” the lawyer said.

There were no other im­mediate indications that any release was in the works, however.

A US State Department official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, called on the Pakistani gov­ernment to ensure Afridi’s safety after the move.

“We are aware of reports that Dr Afridi has been transferred to another pris­on, and call on the govern­ment of Pakistan to take all necessary measures to en­sure Dr Afridi’s safety,” the official said. (Reuters, AFP)