WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. authorities said a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden turned down an opportunity to leave his country and resettle overseas with his family, two U.S. officials told Reuters yesterday.
Dr. Shakil Afridi was jailed last week in Pakistan for 33 years for treason and the Obama administration has come under steady criticism for its handling of his case.
The U.S. officials said the resettlement offer for Afridi came about the time of the May 1, 2011, raid in which U.S. Navy SEAL commandos killed the al Qaeda leader at his complex in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
They indicated that Afridi’s family would have been welcome to leave Pakistan with him as part of the resettlement plan. The officials said he rejected the offer for reasons that are unclear.
Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad and used cheek swabs to try to gather DNA from bin Laden’s children to confirm the identity of those living in the compound.
The DNA effort ultimately did not succeed but U.S. sources have told Reuters he helped American operatives locate and follow the bin Laden courier who led them to the Abbottabad hideout.
The offer for Afridi to leave Pakistan was confirmed independently by two U.S. officials. The White House and State Department declined comment on the matter.
Afridi’s case has damaged U.S.-Pakistan relations with outraged U.S. senators voting last week to cut aid to Pakistan by $33 million – $1 million for each year of the doctor’s prison sentence.
Pakistan has said Washington should respect its court’s decision.
POST-RAID ARREST
Pakistani authorities arrested Afridi several weeks after the bin Laden raid. In the intervening period, U.S. authorities believed they would have had ample time to get him out of the country if he had wanted to leave.
“Before he was arrested, Doctor Afridi was offered opportunities to leave Pakistan with his family but he turned those down,” one of the U.S. officials said.
“Some may question why he did this but no one, including the doctor, could have foreseen that Pakistan would punish so severely someone whose work benefited the country so much,” the official said.
