Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to release Dr Shakil Afridi.
PHOTO: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/
Prime Minister Nawaz, accompanied with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, met with members of the Foreign Affairs Committee at Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
According to a statement, Royce said, “I specifically pressed the prime minister to release Dr Shakil Afridi and encouraged him to ensure that his nation is in fact a responsible and effective partner in countering terrorism, proliferation and violent extremism in the region.”
Dr Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison without giving him an opportunity to defend himself but he filed a review petition to the Fata Tribunal demanding a fresh trial with the right to defend.
The meeting also focused on promotion of regional trade and greater trade with the United States, and importance of education reform, according to the Committee’s press release. The prime minister raised the issue of drone strikes and Kashmir dispute while outlining his vision for regional peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2013.
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Heard in Pakistan TV show "Bolta Pakistan" today that US not only took up the matter of Dr. Afridi but Suzan Rice, United States National Security Advisor also told Nawaz Sharif that their questioning of David Hadley has established that Hafiz Saeed as head of LeT was involved in Mumbai attacks. US wants both Dr. Afridi and Hafiz Saeed.
Pakistan has lost its moral compass. Here is a nation whose government protects a person whose organisation kills people whether they are innocents or not and deals severely with a person who helps identifying him. Pakistan has to wake up and take stock of its behaviour.
PM of Pakistan or any civilian has no power to interfere with the army gamesmanship. Afridi has conspired to expose those who were protecting OBL their most valuable asset. This crime to find and kill the worst terrorist in the world and exposing his hideouts cannot be forgiven this easy.
Was Aafia Siddiqui even mentioned once? Probably not. Can't say I expected anything better from someone that came with a fake mandate.