Sentence of doctor, who helped track Osama, reduced

Shakil Afridi’s jail sentence has been cut short to 23 years, from the earlier 33

Islamabad: The sentence of a doctor who helped the US track down slain Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, was reduced by 10 years and his fine reduced by Pakistani Rs 10 lakh (over $10,000) on Saturday.

A file photo of the SEAL Team Six, which was involved in the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad. Pic/AFP

Munir Azam, the Commissioner of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), passed the order after reviewing Shakil Afridi’s 33-year jail term and Rs 320,000 fine. Shakil’s lawyer Samiullah Afridi said that he would further appeal to a tribunal in the Federally Administred Tribal Areas, adding that he did not seek a review of the case but had asked for a fresh trial.

Shakil Afridi had allegedly helped the CIA by running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad a month before the US forces' raid on a compound that killed Osama in 2011.

Afridi was arrested for his alleged links with the CIA and also charged for his allegedly links with the banned Lashkar-e-Islam religious outfit. Afridi was sentenced last May by an assistant political agent of the Khyber Agency tribal region.

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