WASHINGTON:
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday vowed to continue to press the case of Dr Shakil Afridi with Islamabad, calling Pakistan’s jailing of Afridi for 33 years for helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden “unjust and unwarranted”.
“The United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr (Shakil) Afridi. We regret the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence,” she said, calling his treatment “unjust and unwarranted.”
Earlier, the US government had also said that Pakistan had no basis to hold Afridi.
“Anyone who supported the United States in finding Osama bin Laden was not working against Pakistan, they were working against al Qaeda,” Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters.
Senators Carl Levin and John McCain, from the two major parties on the Senate Armed Services Committee, demanded Afridi be pardoned and freed “immediately”, saying the decision could put US financial assistance at risk.
“What Dr Afridi did is the furthest thing from treason. It was a courageous, heroic and patriotic act which helped to locate the most wanted terrorist in the world -- a mass murderer who had the blood of many innocent Pakistanis on his hands,” they said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2012.
COMMENTS (3)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@Asad Ur Rehman: Well in this case, Islamabad could suggest a prisoner swap deal. Aafia Siddiqui could be returned to Pakistan in exchange for Afridi's going to the U.S.
US' leaders can't you stop to interfere in Pakistan's extremely internal/confidential matters at least now????????Enough is enough.
And what are the basis of holding and sentencing Aafia Siddiqui for 86 Years. Rule of Stick doesn't apply always.