US cuts Pakistan aid over jailing of 'Bin Laden doctor'

[Kunal Biswas]

A US Senate panel has cut $33m (£21m) in aid to Pakistan in response to the jailing of a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama Bin Laden.The Senate Appropriations Committee has said it will cut US aid by $1m for each year of Shakil Afridi's sentence.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said his term was "unjust and unwarranted".Dr Afridi was tried for treason under a tribal justice system for running a fake vaccination programme to gather information for US intelligence.Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011.The move from the Senate panel follows earlier cuts to the White House's budget request for Pakistan. The cuts would be part of a bill that would send $1bn in aid to Pakistan in the next financial year."We need Pakistan, Pakistan needs us, but we don't need Pakistan double-dealing and not seeing the justice in bringing Osama Bin Laden to an end," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, calling Pakistan "a schizophrenic ally".Meanwhile Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said: "It's Alice in Wonderland at best. If this is co-operation, I'd hate like hell to see opposition."Correspondents say the cuts reflect mounting frustration in Congress over Pakistan's role in fighting terrorism on its soil.Absent from courtMeanwhile, Mrs Clinton spoke out against Dr Afridi's sentence.
"The United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr [Shakil] Afridi. We regret the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence," Mrs Clinton told reporters on Thursday.She added that she would continue to pursue the issue with the authorities in Pakistan.The killing triggered a rift between the US and Pakistan, whose government was seriously embarrassed as it emerged Bin Laden had been living in Pakistan.Islamabad felt the covert US operation was a violation of its sovereignty.
Shortly after the raid on Bin Laden's house, Dr Afridi was arrested for conspiring against the state of Pakistan.
Pakistan has insisted that any country would have done the same if it found one of its citizens working for a foreign spy agency.
Dr Afridi was found guilty in Khyber district, and fined $3,500. If he does not pay the fine his prison sentence will be extended by a further three years.Dr Afridi, who is now being held in jail in Peshawar, was not present in court so was unable to give his side of the story.
In June, Pakistani army officials told the BBC that some suspects were arrested for helping the Americans refuel their helicopters during the raid. Others were detained because they were suspected of firing flares to guide the helicopters towards the compound.


It is not clear if Dr Afridi knew who the target of the investigation was when the CIA recruited him, or what DNA he managed to collect in the fake hepatitis B vaccination programme.The idea was to obtain a blood sample from one of the children living in the Abbottabad compound, so that DNA tests could determine whether or not they were relatives of Bin Laden.The issues of drone strikes and Pakistan's refusal to re-open Nato supply routes to Afghanistan have also recently strained the two allies' relationship.Pakistan's parliament has called for an end to the use of drones, and says they are an attack on its sovereignty. A drone strike on Wednesday killed four people in the North Waziristan tribal area, security officials said.The two countries also failed to reach agreement at the Nato summit in Chicago over the supply routes that were closed after a US air strike in 2011 killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.Islamabad is demanding more than $5,000 (£3,200) per lorry in transit fees, up from its previous rate of $250, to let supplies flow again.

From the BBC

 

[Kunal Biswas]

GOod Move by US.. :thumb:

Lets say increase it by double every year..

 

[kaustav2001]

GOod Move by US.. :thumb:

Lets say increase it by double every year..

$33mil is too less & then 1mil / year - it's a joke considering that the doc. may not survive in Paki Jail that long (unless of course they treat him the way we treat Kasab, put him in solitary with Z+ security & feed him Biriyani - kinda unlikely in Pakistan though), it's like simply waving a stick at a Brat from a distance, when u know that the Brat deserves a good rap on his knuckles, merely symbolic I say.
Still I guess a little something is better than a whole lot of nothing. Yes now if they were to increase it by double each year that would be something..

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Pakistan Overturns Conviction of Doctor in Bin Laden Hunt

A Pakistani judicial official on Thursday overturned the conviction of a Pakistani doctor who helped the C.I.A. while it was searching for Osama bin Laden, and ordered a retrial. The official, Sahibzada Muhammad Anis, who presided over an appellate court hearing the case, ruled that the tribal judge who convicted the doctor, Shakil Afridi, exceeded his authority when he sentenced him to 33 years in prison in May 2012.

Dr. Afridi's lawyer, Samiullah Afridi, told reporters gathered outside Mr. Anis's office in Peshawar that the court had agreed to a new trial under the auspices of the political agent of Khyber, the most senior government official in Dr. Afridi's home district.

"Earlier, Shakil Afridi was a convict," said Qamar Nadeem, a cousin of Dr. Afridi, in a telephone interview. "Now, he is again an accused."

Officials said that Dr. Afridi would not be released before the retrial concluded.

 

[SATISH]

Wow that escalated quickly.

 

[hit&run]

Such threads and News were never relevant to Indian readers.

We know how husband wife intrigues of USA and Pakistan ends.

The point is the aid Pakistan receives from USA is never going to be halted regardless of how both pretend and posture. All the hate shown against USA by Pakistanis is their tactic they assume will pressurize USA to remain their master, as he has been through out.

There are some parasitic relationships found in nature prudent and imperative for host and the parasite. Countries like USA do not reject states like Pakistan when the relationship for them relegates to a commensal relationship or even counter productive for a duration.

 

[roma]

Such threads and News were never relevant to Indian readers.

We know how husband wife intrigues of USA and Pakistan ends.

The point is the aid Pakistan receives from USA is never going to be halted regardless of how both pretend and posture. All the hate shown against USA by Pakistanis is their tactic they assume will pressurize USA to remain their master, as he has been through out.

There are some parasitic relationships found in nature prudent and imperative for host and the parasite. Countries like USA do not reject states like Pakistan when the relationship for them relegates to a commensal relationship or even counter productive for a duration.

what you maynot have seen, fortuntaely is how some once hubbies and wives divorced
and then get onto each others' throats - realtime ! ....God forbid - so it happens to "others"

packland as a wife or hubby is reallay stretching it - first with gwadar now with closey with russia

i think we are pretty close to the turning point

within the nexrt 5 - 7 years we are gonna see things change and then down fast

the usa is not gonna take china-pack-iran-russ evil alliance lightly

 

[hello_10]

OBL used to have his pictures in almost every second shop in Pakistan, as per the news we used to read by 2008-10. even Mullah Omar studied from a madrasa of Pakistan, which are the main source of 'suicide bombers'. and its no hidden that there was an common anger in Pakistan for the way OBL was killed, he was publically declared as a martyr......... hence its a common sense that they won't let this doctor get any reward for his job :ranger:

 

[hit&run]

what you maynot have seen, fortuntaely is how some once hubbies and wives divorced
and then get onto each others' throats - realtime ! ....God forbid - so it happens to "others"

packland as a wife or hubby is reallay stretching it - first with gwadar now with closey with russia

i think we are pretty close to the turning point

within the nexrt 5 - 7 years we are gonna see things change and then down fast

the usa is not gonna take china-pack-iran-russ evil alliance lightly

So you have no Idea how subservient wives from subcontinent can be; regardless of abusive and violent hubby. Once they stick with you can't get rid of them.

 

[Dovah]

@asianobserve What do you have to say about this? Isn't that Doctor a traitor like Snowden?

 

[asianobserve]

@asianobserve What do you have to say about this? Isn't that Doctor a traitor like Snowden?

What Pakistani interest did he compromise in helping the Americans kill OBL, a dangerous foreigner hiding in Pakistan? Did he compromise state secrets (paid for by Pakistani taxpayers money) in the process? Did the doctor take an oath to keep the whereabouts of OBL secret? Was he paid by his government in keeping OBL's whereabouts secret?

 

[Dovah]

What Pakistani interest did he compromise in helping the Americans kill OBL, a dangerous foreigner hiding in Pakistan? Did he compromise state secrets (paid for by Pakistani taxpayers money) in the process?

That is beside point. (Likewise one could say that Snowden exposed the spying operation against the american public)

He was working at the behest of a foreign Agency against his own government which made him liable for prosecution by the GoP.

 

[roma]

So you have no Idea how subservient wives from subcontinent can be; regardless of abusive and violent hubby. Once they stick with you can't get rid of them.

seriously ? wow ! that is a most beautiful quality to have

- i hope society and goi doesnt abuse such sterling qualities

of the most beautiful indian ladies