Pakistani Doctor Who Helped U.S. Find Bin Laden Convicted Of Treason

The Pakistani physician who helped American agents find Osama bin Laden has been convicted by a Pakistani court of treason:

A Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama Bin Laden has been sentenced to 33 years in jail, officials say.

Shakil Afridi was charged with treason for running a fake vaccination programme to gather information.

The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had called for his release on the grounds that his work served Pakistani and American interests.

Bin Laden was killed by US forces in the north-western city of Abbottabad in May 2011.

The killing triggered a rift between the US and Pakistan, whose government was seriously embarrassed to find Bin Laden had been living in Pakistan.

As well they should have been embarrassed actually. Apparently, their response to that embarrassment is to punish the people who helped uncover the embarrassment.

Again, these are our Pakistani “friends.”

FILED UNDER: Asia, Terrorism, World Politics, , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Jenos Idanian says:

    Just like in the Palestinian territories, “collaborating with Israel” — selling land, entering into a business deal, informing on terrorists, or anything that doesn’t heighten the tension — is a capital offense.

    Ignore their words. Observe their deeds. That is how you tell just how interested they are in “peace” or “fighting extremism.”

  2. Andy says:

    The people who should be in jail are the D-Bags in the US government who leaked so many details of the operation, including the involvement of this physician.

  3. Moosebreath says:

    “Again, these are our Pakistani “friends.””

    And yet Romney was so concerned about annoying these friends that he said in 2007-08 that it was more important to keep them on our side in the War on Terror than hunt down Bin Laden. Shows what a great grasp of priorities he has.

  4. al-Ameda says:

    Thank god Pakistan is an ally, or who knows what could have happened to Shakil Afridi.

    We cannot declare victory and leave that region soon enough.