Pakistani doctor who helped capture Bin Laden sentenced to 33 years in jailMay 23, 2012 - 18:42 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down Osama bin Laden has been convicted of high treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison, Belfast Telegraph reported. Shakil Afridi was also ordered to pay a fine of about 3,500 U.S. dollars (£2,200), said government official Nasir Khan. If Afridi does not pay, he will spend another three and half years in prison. Mr Khan is a government official in Pakistan's Khyber tribal area, where Afridi was tried. Afridi ran a vaccination programme for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence at the compound in the town of Abbottabad, where he was killed last May by U.S. commandos. U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called for Afridi to be released, saying his work served Pakistani and American interests. Afridi was detained some time after the raid on May 2 last year, but the start of his trial was never publicised. "He was working for a foreign spy agency. We are looking after our national interests," said a Pakistani intelligence official. The U.S. operation that killed bin Laden severely strained ties with Pakistan. The Pakistani government kicked out U.S. military trainers and limited counter-terrorism co-operation with the CIA. The relationship got worse in November when the U.S. killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two posts along the Afghan border, an attack that Washington said was an accident but the Pakistani army insisted was deliberate. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |