Bin Laden ‘informer’: Panetta concerned about CIA-backed doctor

Pentagon chief says Shakil Afridi was not treasonous to Pakistan in any way.


Afp January 28, 2012

WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has expressed concern about Pakistan's treatment of a doctor who helped the United States find former al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The doctor, Shakil Afridi, has been under arrest for months now and the Abbottabad inquiry commission earlier suggested that a treason case should be registered against him.

In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes”, due to be aired on Sunday,  Panetta acknowledged that Afridi, a doctor in Abbottabad, the town where Bin Laden was found, had in fact been working for US intelligence, collecting DNA to verify the 9/11 mastermind’s presence.

“I’m very concerned about what the Pakistanis did with this individual ... who in fact helped provide intelligence that was very helpful with regards to this operation,” Panetta said, according to excerpts of the interview.

“He was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan,” the defense secretary said. “Pakistan and the United States have a common cause here against terrorism ... and for them to take this kind of action against somebody who was helping to go after terrorism, I just think is a real mistake on their part.”

The defense secretary didn’t stop just there. He went on to add that he still believed someone in authority in Pakistan knew where Bin Laden was hiding before US forces went in to find him.

Intelligence reports found that Pakistani military helicopters had passed over the compound in Abbottabad, according to the interview.

“I personally have always felt that somebody must have had some sense of what was happening at this compound,” Panetta said. “Don’t forget, this compound had 18-foot walls ... It was the largest compound in the area.

“So you would have thought that somebody would have asked the question, ‘What the hell’s going on there?’” Panetta told CBS.

The Pentagon chief said this concern contributed to Washington’s decision not to give Pakistan advance warning of the impending raid.

“It concerned us that if we in fact brought (Pakistan) into it, that – they might ... give bin Laden a heads-up,” he said.

However, Panetta acknowledged he did not have “hard evidence” that Pakistan knew of the al Qaeda leader’s whereabouts. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2012. 

COMMENTS (67)

American Pakistani | 12 years ago | Reply

Mr Leon Panetta you should be concerned about other thousands of pakistanis who are killed because of your drone strikes, terrorism conducted by your proxies and the destruction of infrastructutre and bombings of public places by your contractor namely Black waters and Intelligence solutions, get back in touch with the human element inside you and you will understand what i am trying to say to you.

Tim Hover | 12 years ago | Reply

OBL was a mole unleashed on the globe for achieving US agendas where political and democratic chennels wont allow any US adventures, it allowed US government the right to invade any one and have military presence anywhere in the globe in search of Al-qaeda. it has outlived its utility but US is trying to milk it a bit more before they find some one else. Cant imagine people still argue about the presence and authenticity of OBL legend.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ