“Bin Laden doctor” jailed for “fighter links”
►http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/05/201253015503713861.html
A Pakistani doctor who helped the US find Osama bin Laden was imprisoned for aiding fighters and not for links to the CIA, as Pakistani officials had said, according to a court document.
Last week, a court in the Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border jailed Shakil Afridi for 33 years.
At the time, Pakistani officials told Western and domestic media the decision was based on treason charges for aiding the CIA in its hunt for the al-Qaeda chief.
“When the verdict came out on May 23, it said he was being charged for treason because of his involvement with the CIA,” Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said.
However, the judgement document made available to the media on Wednesday states that Afridi was jailed because of his close ties to the banned group Lashkar-e-Islam.
“Americans lashed out at Pakistan, but when the ruling came out today, it made no mention of the CIA,” Hyder said.
“People are asking all sorts of questions - whether the Americans overreacted, or the Pakistanis overreacted.”