ISLAMABAD – Shakil Afridi, known for helping track down 9/11 mastermindOsama bin Laden has been moved by authorities from a prison in Peshawar toan unknown safer location, an official and family member said Friday.
Afridi has been languishing in prison for almost eight years after his fakevaccination programme helped United States agents track and kill the AlQaeda leader.
A top prison official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told *AFP* that Afridi wasmoved by intelligence officials to the safer place late Thursday.
When asked the reasons behind moving the doctor, the official told *AFP*,”I was informed in writing that they are moving him due to security reasons.ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
Jamil Afridi, the doctor’s brother, confirmed to *AFP* that he had beeninformed by government officials that “Shakil has been moved to a saferplace.”
Afridi was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of tiesto militants, a charge he has always denied.
Some US lawmakers said the case was revenge for his help in the search forthe Al Qaeda chief.
Afridi, a former senior surgeon believed to be in his mid-50s, had beenliving in solitary confinement in a small room in Peshawar’s Central Jail,his lawyer Qamar Nadim told *AFP*.
In 2016, a US threat to cut aid to Pakistan saw a tribunal slice 10 yearsoff his sentence ─ but since then US pressure for his release has taperedoff.
US President Donald Trump vowed during his election campaign that he wouldorder Pakistan to free Afridi.
“I’m sure they would let them (him) out. Because we give a lot of aid toPakistan,” Trump told *Fox News* at the time, adding that Pakistan “takesadvantage like everybody else”.
The comments sparked a blistering rebuttal from the government, which saidthat “Pakistan and not Donald Trump” would decide Afridi’s fate.