News
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Doctor who helped CIA barred from leaving Pakistan* Abbottabad Commission says Afridi, other people who are wanted for questioning are banned from leaving Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The Abbottabad Commission has imposed a ban on travelling abroad for all persons relating to slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s raid in Abbottabad, including Dr Shakeel Afridi, till further orders.
No such person should be allowed to leave the country without clearance from the commission, it was officially announced on Tuesday.
Dr Afridi ran a phony vaccination programme in Abbottabad in an effort to obtain a DNA sample from the al Qaeda leader. Dr Afridi had helped the CIA find bin Laden but was barred from leaving Pakistan.
Afridi is being detained by government authorities, but has not been charged with any crime.
American officials want him released, and his fate has become a complicating issue in strained relations between the two country’s spy services. There has been speculation Afridi and his family may leave Pakistan if he is freed.
The commission has been tasked with investigating how bin Laden managed to hide in Abbottabad for so long, and the circumstances surrounding the US operation. It is headed by a Supreme Court judge and its members are a retired general, a former diplomat, a former police chief and a civil servant.
In July, it issued an order banning the wives and children of bin Laden from leaving the country. They have been detained since the night of the raid, but there had been indications Pakistani authorities were intending to deport one or all of them to their native countries. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk