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US Senate defeats Bill to cut American aid to Pakistan for not releasing imprisoned Bin Laden doctor Shakil Afridi | | The US Senate has defeated a Bill that would have denied American aid to Pakistan till the release of imprisoned Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who helped the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) track down Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden to Abbottabad. The bill, introduced by Senator Rand Paul, was defeated by
81 to 10 votes. The bill also called for cutting all U.S. aid to Libya and Egypt
till those who were responsible for the attacks on American missions in the two
countries were arrested and handed over to the U.S., reports The News. Dr Afridi
was sentenced to 33 years in jail in Pakistan on May 24 under the system of tribal
justice for treason over alleged ties to the Lashkar-e-Islam and not for working
for the CIA, for which the court said it did not have the jurisdiction. Following
the defeat of his bill, Paul vowed to keep this important issue on the front and
in the centre. "When nearly 80 percent of Americans believe foreign aid should
be reduced - especially to the countries that are not our allies - it is inconceivable
why their views are ignored by so many in Congress," Paul said. "I am far from
defeated on this; I will continue to fight for this issue when Congress returns,
and I will continue to call attention to the billions of American dollars - borrowed
from China, among other places - being sent to governments that are not willing
to respect and protect our interests overseas," he added. Earlier, Pakistan Foreign
Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had said Americans should not treat Dr Afridi as a
hero. "We feel Dr Shakil Afridi should be no hero to the Americans. He did not
know the Herculean task that he was trying to do. He did not know that he was
going after Osama Bin Laden," she had said. "He was a man who was up for hire
by anybody who was willing to pay him, and that included Islamic and terrorist
organisations, which were using him to move and work against your and our interests.
So he was no hero," Khar added.
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