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Pakistan to hold retrial of doctor who helped CIA
Source: Associated Press
Pakistan to hold retrial of doctor who helped CIA
AP foreign, Thursday August 29 2013
RIAZ KHAN
Associated Press= PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A senior judicial official on Thursday overturned the prison sentence of a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden and ordered his re-trial, citing procedural problems with the initial trial.
The official, Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, issued the ruling because the person who sentenced Dr. Shakil Afridi to 33 years in prison was not authorized to hear the case, said Feroz Shah, a government administrator.
Afridi was convicted in May 2012 of "conspiring against the state" by giving money and providing medical treatment to Islamic militants in Pakistan's Khyber tribal area, not for helping the CIA track down bin Laden. The doctor's family and the militants denied the allegations.
The case has caused friction between Pakistan and the United States, complicating a relationship that Washington views as vital for fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as negotiating an end to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
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AP foreign, Thursday August 29 2013
RIAZ KHAN
Associated Press= PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A senior judicial official on Thursday overturned the prison sentence of a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden and ordered his re-trial, citing procedural problems with the initial trial.
The official, Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, issued the ruling because the person who sentenced Dr. Shakil Afridi to 33 years in prison was not authorized to hear the case, said Feroz Shah, a government administrator.
Afridi was convicted in May 2012 of "conspiring against the state" by giving money and providing medical treatment to Islamic militants in Pakistan's Khyber tribal area, not for helping the CIA track down bin Laden. The doctor's family and the militants denied the allegations.
The case has caused friction between Pakistan and the United States, complicating a relationship that Washington views as vital for fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as negotiating an end to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/10951811