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US lawmaker blasts Obama's inaction to protect Pak doctor who helped track Osama | Peter King, Republican chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the U.S.
House of Representative, has expressed concern over Obama administration's inaction
to protect a Pakistani doctor, who was imprisoned for 33 years for helping Washington
to track down Osama Bin Laden. "This has been handled very poorly right from the
time of the raid," Fox News quoted King as saying. The doctor, Shakil Afridi,
ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify Laden's presence
in Abbottabad, where U.S. commandos killed the Al Qaeda chief. The operation annoyed
the Pakistani officials, who said that the doctor's help was an act of treachery
by a supposed ally. "They put him out there. I'm focused on that they disclosed
his identity," King said. The doctor was sentenced to 33 years in prison on Wednesday
for conspiring against the state, verdict officials believe is likely to strain
Pakistan 's relations with Washington . Senior U.S. officials have called for
Afridi to be released, saying his work served Pakistani and American interests.
A senior U.S. official with knowledge of counter-terrorism operations against
Al Qaeda in Pakistan said the doctor was never asked to spy on Pakistan . "He
was asked only to help locate Al Qaeda terrorists, who threaten Pakistan and the
U.S. ," the official said. However, many Pakistani officials have claimed that
the doctor's help was an act of treachery. "He was working for a foreign spy agency.
We are looking after our national interests," a Pakistani intelligence official
said. Afridi's conviction comes at time when the U.S. and Pakistan relations are
already strained over Pakistan 's refusal to re-open NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. The supply routes were closed six months ago in retaliation for American air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
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