Friday, May 3, 2013

Brave doctor helped CIA track down Bin Laden is on hunger strike in Pakistani prison

The brave Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA to capture Osama Bin Laden is still rotting inside jail two year's after the terrorist's death.
Dr Shakil Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison in June last year after a Pakistani court found him guilty of treason for conspiring against Pakistan.
Denied access to his family and legal team, Dr Afridi is now on hunger strike - he stopped eating days after an April 25 court date.
Dr Shakil Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison in June after a Pakistani court found him guilty of treason for conspiring against Pakistan.
Osama bin Laden
Jailed: Dr Shakil Afridi is now a hunger strike. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison in June 2012 after a Pakistani court found him guilty of treason for conspiring against Pakistan by helping the CIA to capture Osama Bin Laden
Dr Afridi’s next court hearing, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed again to a date in June, according to Fox News.
He helped the CIA by running a fake vaccination programme that allowed him to collect the DNA of Bin Laden’s children from the family compound in Abbottabad.
Sample analysis confirmed the terror leader was probably there and triggered the deadly mission by US Navy SEALS in May 2011.
The successful mission sparked a rift between the US and Pakistani leaders who were embarrassed that Bin Laden had been living in a major military hub close to the capital.
Angry Pakistani officials felt the covert operation was a violation of its sovereignty and implied the US was unable to trust its key partner in the war on terror.
Dr. Shakil Afridi helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden and turned down an opportunity to leave Pakistan and resettle overseas with his family
Speaking out: Dr Shakil Afridi helped the CIA track down bin Laden and turned down an opportunity to leave Pakistan and resettle overseas with his family
Shortly after the raid which killed Bin Laden, Dr Afridi was arrested for conspiring against the state of Pakistan.
The physician said he has been subjected to torture and harsh questioning since his arrest days after Bin Laden’s death in May 2011 as he tried to flee Pakistan.
And he also claimed that he did not know that the information he provided to the CIA had led to the assassination of the reclusive Al Qaeda leader.
Afridi's brother Jamil told Fox News year that Shakil Afridi had suffered torture while in custody ahead of his sentencing and previously appealed for U.S. Embassy help to fight his legal case.
Mission: The Al Qaeda leader was killed at this compound in Abbottabad by US Special Forces
Mission: The Al Qaeda leader was killed at this compound in Abbottabad by U.S. Special Forces
The compound, within which al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed, is seen in flames after it was attacked in Abbottabad in this still image taken from video footage from a mobile phone May 2, 2011
The compound, within which al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed, is seen in flames after it was attacked in Abbottabad in this still image taken from video footage from a mobile phone May 2, 2011
In an interview with Fox News from his Pakistan jail cell in September Dr Afridi says he has been told: ‘You helped our enemies.
'They said "The Americans are our worst enemies, worse than the Indians."'
Dr Afridi said he tried to defend the U.S. as allies and supporters of Pakistan.
He told Fox news: 'I tried to argue that America was Pakistan's biggest supporter - billions and billions of dollars in aid, social and military assistance - but all they said was, "These are our worst enemies. You helped our enemies."'
Dr Afridi also warned that any cooperation by Pakistan is just a front for the country to collect billions of dollars in aid from the U.S.
Tense: The moment President Barack Obama watching the mission to find bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, 2011
Tense: The moment President Barack Obama and his team watched the mission to find bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, 2011
“It is now indisputable that militancy in Pakistan is supported by the ISI… Pakistan’s fight against militancy is bogus. It’s just to extract money from America.'
The U.S. has insisted there is no basis to imprison Afridi on treason charges and secretary of state Hillary Clinton said in May 2012 that she regretted 'both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence'.
Officials from the United States have revealed in the past that they attempted to extricate Dr Afridi from Pakistan in the weeks after the bin Laden raid.
Unnamed U.S. officials said the resettlement offer for Afridi came around the time of the May 1, 2011, raid in which U.S. Navy SEAL commandos killed the al-Qaeda chief at his complex in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
'Dr. Shakil Afridi betrayed the country,' the military official told the network. 'He should have informed the Pakistani intelligence agencies instead of helping foreigners.'

DAILYMAIL

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