Pakistani citizens, including a doctor, who helped the US track down slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden have been barred from leaving the country without official permission.
The ban has been imposed by a judicial panel, headed by Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, which has been tasked to investigate the May 2 US raid that killed Bin Laden in Abbottabad.
The restriction has reinforced the position of the Pakistani government, which has reportedly been resisting US pressure to release Dr Shakeel Afridi and his accomplices so that they can be given sanctuary in the US.
“The commission has imposed a ban on foreign travel for all persons related to the Abbottabad incident, including Dr Afridi, till further orders. No such person should be allowed to leave the country without clearance from the commission,” said a short statement issued on Tuesday.
The terms of reference of the commission are to ascertain the facts regarding Bin Laden’s prolonged presence in Pakistan, investigate the circumstances and facts surrounding the US operation, determine the nature, background and causes of lapses on part of the responsible authorities, if any, and make consequential recommendations.
The commission is authorised to summon anyone within Pakistan, including officials of powerful secret agencies, military and civilian authorities, and has already called various officials, mainly from military authorities.
On July 5, the commission had directed Pakistani authorities, including secret agencies, to disallow Bin Laden’s family from leaving the country without the commission’s permission. The family is believed to be in the custody of Pakistani intelligence agencies.
Soon after the US secret operation, the Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI) busted a network of Pakistanis who were working for hunting down Bin Laden in connivance with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Dr Afridi and over a dozen others in the network were taken into custody in the weeks following the US operation. They are still under custody of Pakistani agencies.
The doctor and his collaborators had been recruited by the CIA, under the pretext of vaccinating residents for Hepatitis B, to get a DNA sample of those living inside the house to ascertain if they were Bin Laden’s family members.
Afridi had been a government employee and was working as in-charge of the health department for tribal areas, bordering Afghanistan. He was picked up from Peshawar and is still in the custody of Pakistani agencies but no formal charges have been levelled at him so far.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2011.
COMMENTS (10)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
An enermy of your friend is your enemy and the opposite is true ... unless Pakistan is preaching that Osama was their friend ... otherwise the people who helped the american mission on Osama are friends to America. Pakistan is friend to America hence we can therefore conclude that the mission aiders are friends to Pakistan.
Will Osama Bin Laden re-alive if certain pakistanis or doctors are put of Exit Control List from travelling abroad. It is useless to cry over the spilt milk we are now imposing so-called sanctions on people and screening loyalties of state functionaries. Didn't those laws exist when OBL was hiding under the nose of the army Garrison while we continued to lie before the whole world that former was not on Pakistan's soil.
State functionaries who were stooge in the hands of the government, have now come up with a "New Version of Islam and Patriotism" and licking boots to protect their seats.
Mussarat
@Cautious: Churchill: To effectively kill an idea appoint a Commission.
Applies to the various commissions in Pakistan.
How Osama was found and killed is not issue the issue for the commission is to find the perpetuators who harboured Osama in Abottabad and those who assisted American to hunt him down. They should be tried and punished for treason , not because they assisted Americans in hunting Osama , but because they were instrumental in facilitating a foreign spy network in violating the sovereign of the country.
At this rate it should take about 40 years for the Abbottabad Commission to complete it's appointed task --- maybe an enterprising reporter from ET should do a story about what happened to the Commission?
@pundit, chuss
The CIA's eavesdropping technology has revealed that OBL's ghost has been spotted at Abbottabad...... suggest that the commission also invite the ghost!
Please let us know who else has been banned from travelling outside Pakistan. This is half baked news.
Imagine if some US national was assisting a foreign government instead of helping is own agency in the US. How would they treat him in the US. The US is supposed to be our ally- as such, they are supposed to mount joint operations with Pak security forces in the nation to collect these criminals who are a throwback from the Soviet War in Afghanistan. Dr. Afridi needs to be reminded of the laws of the land he lives in.
brilliant photo ! kudos to the photographer!