ISLAMABAD – Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said on Thursdaythat there is no deal under way between Pakistan and anyone else over thematter of Dr Shakil Afridi.

During his weekly press briefing, Dr Faisal stated that the issue of DrAfridi is being handled by the Interior Ministry.

Soon after Osama bin Laden was killed in May 2011 in a US raid inAbbottabad, the US media reported that Afridi had contributed to thesuccess of the CIA operation by collecting DNA samples of bin Laden’sfamily by order of the intelligence agency.

Then-CIA director Leon Panetta and then-US secretary of state HillaryClinton had confirmed the doctor’s role in eliminating the terrorist, afterwhich Afridi was arrested by Pakistani authorities.

After his detention in 2011, Afridi was sentenced to 33 years forinvolvement in anti-state activities by a tribal court in 2012.

However, the sentence was later reduced.

Afridi was recently shifted, as per media reports, from Peshawar to AdialaJail in Rawalpindi due to security concerns.

Media reports had also stated that the shifting was related to Afridi’simpending release.

During today’s briefing, Dr Faisal also apprised the media of Pakistan’sinternational efforts to highlight the plight of innocent Kashmiris inIndian occupied Kashmir.