Our friends the Pakis.
Pakistani authorities have sentenced a doctor accused of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden to 33 years in jail on charges of treason, officials said, a move almost certain to further strain ties between Washington and Islamabad.
Shakil Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign, in which he collected DNA samples, that is believed to have helped the American intelligence agency track down bin Laden in a Pakistani town.
The al Qaeda chieftain was killed in a unilateral U.S. special forces raid in the town of Abbottabad in May last year.
“Dr Shakil has been sentenced to 33 years imprisonment and a fine of 320,000 Pakistani rupees ($3,477),” said Mohammad Nasir, a government official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, where the jail term will be served. He gave no further details.
Afridi is the first person to be sentenced by Pakistani authorities in the bin Laden case.
The sentence was handed down under tribal laws, which unlike the national penal code, do not carry the death penalty for treason.
U.S. officials were strongly critical of the sentencing.
“Without commenting on specific individuals, anyone who helped the United States find bin Laden was working against al Qaeda and not against Pakistan,” said Pentagon spokesman George Little.
Bin Laden’s long presence in Pakistan — he was believed to have stayed there for years — despite the worldwide manhunt for him raised suspicions in Washington that Pakistani intelligence officials may have sheltered him.
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-doctor-imprisoned-helping-cia-bin-laden-111342460.html
May have sheltered him?
Pakistan is not an ally; it has never been cooperative in the war against Islamic terrorists. The Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) has Taliban moles on its payroll, and cells run back across the Afghan border after re-grouping, thanks to the Pakistan regime. Any resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan can be directly attributed to terrorist groups operating carte blanche in Pakistan; abetted by a large portion of the Pakistani government, Army, and ISI.
Islamabad should be at the top of the list of Predator targets.
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- Pakistan convicts doctor who helped bin Laden raid (washingtontimes.com)
- Pakistan Sentences Bin Laden Doctor to 30 Years for Treason (foxnewsinsider.com)