No basis to incarcerate Afridi: Clinton

US Congressman Rohrabacher says Dr Afridi was the only one in Pakistan who was cooperating with the US.

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stressed that there was no basis on Pakistan’s part to hold Dr Shakil Afridi behind bars.

“In fact, I think his work on behalf of the effort to take down bin Laden was in Pakistan’s interest, as well as the US’s interest. We have made that view very well known. We will continue to press it,” she said.

Clinton made these remarks in response to a query by Representative Dana Rohrabacher, the Republican lawmaker who submitted the bill in the House of Representatives to grant Dr Afridi US citizenship, in addition to awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal.

Rohrabacher had asked Clinton if she could testify before the house that Pakistan is cooperating on the issue, while Afridi was still languishing in a prison.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2012.