¤ Obama accusé d’avoir abandonné à son sort (condamnation à 33 ans de prison par la justice pakistanaise) Shakil Afridi, le médecin pakistanais qui avait permis à l’armée US de localiser et de tuer Ben Laden
source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149619/Shakil-Afridi-Obama-accused-abandoning-Pakistani-doctor-led-Navy-SEALs-bin-Laden.html
Obama accused of abandoning Pakistani doctor who led Navy SEALs to bin Laden… as U.S. withdraws MILLIONS in aid to Pakistan in protest at his jail sentence
- Dr Shakil Afridi led Navy SEALS to bin Laden by setting up fake vaccination programme that allowed him to take DNA samples from terrorist’s children
- Ex-intelligence officials say White House didn’t do enough to secure Dr Afridi’s freedom
- Western officials say sentencing in Islamabad is punishment for humiliating Pakistan, who claims to not know al-Qaeda boss was living in Abottabad
- Rep Peter King says that Obama administration identified the doctor to Pakistani government officials, prompting his 33-year treason sentence
PUBLISHED: 23:21 GMT, 24 May 2012 | UPDATED: 10:23 GMT, 25 May 2012
Several former intelligence officials are accusing the White House of failing to act in the case of a Paksitani doctor who faces 33 years behind bars despite leading the U.S. to Osama bin Laden.
Outcry has erupted against the Obama administration since Dr Shakil Afridi’s sentence on Tuesday, which was seen as punishment for humiliating Pakistan for apparently not knowing the al-Qaeda leader was living comfortably within its boundaries.
Dr Afridi was arrested days after the Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden’s compound.
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Treason: Dr Shakil Afridi, left, was jailed for 33 years in Islamabad for helping the U.S. find bin Laden, a move that was seen as a major humiliation for the country
Peter Brookes, a former intelligence analyst and adviser, said the U.S. should have had a plan in place to get him out of Pakistan before his arrest.
Mr Brookes told FoxNews.com: ‘You probably wouldn’t want to have tipped him off ahead of time, but maybe the day right afterward you would have wanted to have helped him leave Pakistan – and the same with anybody else who was working with us.’
More…
- White House accused of ‘outing’ Pakistani doctor who led U.S. to Bin Laden’s hideout as he is jailed for 33 YEARS for treason ‘as punishment for humiliating his country’
- In the case of Shakil Afridi, none dare call it treason
- MICHAEL BURLEIGH: We should respond to the sentencing of Shakil Afridi by cutting all aid to Pakistan
While the State Department claims it is in talks with Pakistan in the Afridi case, another ex-intelligence official says they’re not doing enough, if anything.
Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Fox News: ‘From what I’m hearing, we did pretty much nothing.’
Accusations: Peter Brookes, left, and Lt Col Tony Shaffer, right, say the White House has not done enough to secure Dr Afridi’s freedom
‘We did nothing diplomatically at all, didn’t raise a finger. … From what my sources tell me, we did nothing to try and help this guy.’
On Wednesday, Rep Peter King, the New York congressman who leads the House Homeland Security Committee, pointed to the White House for ‘outing’ Dr Afridi to Pakistani authorities.
‘They put him out there,’ Mr King said in light of the doctor’s prison sentence for treason by the Pakistani government.
‘This has been handled very poorly right from the time of the raid,’ Mr King told Fox News. ‘They disclosed his identity.’
The sentence is viewed by Western officials as punishment for humiliating the nation which claimed not to know it was harbouring the Al Qaeda leader.
Meanwhile, a Senate panel expressed its outrage Thursday over Pakistan’s conviction of Dr Afridi by cutting aid to Islamabad by $33million – $1million for every year of the physician’s 33-year sentence for high treason.
The punitive move came on top of deep reductions the Appropriations Committee already had made to President Obama’s budget request for Pakistan, a reflection of the growing congressional anger over its cooperation in combatting terrorism.
The overall foreign aid budget for next year had slashed more than half of the proposed assistance and threatened further reductions if Islamabad failed to open overland supply routes to U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Pushing aside any diplomatic talk, Republicans and Democrats criticised Pakistan a day after Dr Afridi’s conviction.
The doctor ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden’s presence at the compound in Abbottabad where U.S. commandos found and killed the al-Qaeda leader in May 2011.
The United States has called for Dr Afridi’s release, arguing that he was acting in the interest of the U.S. and Pakistan.
‘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 Sen Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, who pushed for the additional cut in aid.
He accused Pakistan of ‘schizophrenic ally’ helping the U.S. at one turn, but then aiding the Haqqani network which has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Americans.
The group also has ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
‘It’s Alice in Wonderland at best,’ said Democratic Sen Patrick Leahy of Vermont. ‘If this is cooperation, I’d hate like hell to see opposition.’
Mission: The Al Qaeda leader was killed at this compound in Abbottabad by U.S. Special Forces
One of the most forceful statements came from Sen Dianne Feinstein of California, who also serves as the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
She pointed out that Pakistan has suffered at the hands of terrorists yet misconstrued what is treason in convicting Afridi. She also insisted that Afridi was not a spy.
‘This conviction says to me that al-Qaeda is viewed by the court to be Pakistan,’ said Feinstein, who said it made her rethink U.S. assistance.
The committee approved Sen Graham’s amendment to cut the assistance by $33million on a 30-0 vote.
In crafting the overall legislation, the committee reduced Obama’s request to aid Pakistan by 58 per cent as resentment and doubts linger on Capitol Hill, a year after bin Laden was killed deep inside Pakistan.
Tensions between Washington and Islamabad have increased as Pakistan closed overland supply routes to Afghanistan after a U.S. attack on the Pakistani side of the border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
Dr Afridi helped the CIA by running a fake vaccination programme that allowed him to collect the DNA of Bin Laden’s children from the family compound in Abbottabad.
Sample analysis confirmed the terror leader was probably there and triggered the deadly mission by U.S. Navy SEALS last May.
It sparked a major rift between the US and Pakistani leaders who were embarrassed that Bin Laden had been living in a major military hub close to the capital.
A furious Pakistan felt the covert operation was a violation of its sovereignty and implied the US was unable to trust its key partner in the war on terror.
Dr Afridi was arrested shortly after the bin Laden raid, for conspiring against the state of Pakistan, his house was sealed and all assets frozen.
A commission recommended a charge of conspiracy against Pakistan and high treason.
U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed in January that Dr Afridi collected DNA in an effort to help locate Bin Laden but added he ‘was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan. For them to take this kind of action against somebody who was helping to go after terrorism is a real mistake.’
Dr Afridi had no right to legal representation, to present evidence or cross-examine witnesses. He must also pay a $3,600 fine or serve a further three-and-a-half years in jail.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for his release.
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