Source: ET
There is something that rings alarm bells in the announcement by the commissioner for law in the tribal areas, Sahibzada Muhammad Anees, that a new trial was to be ordered for Dr Shakil Afridi, the man sentenced to a 33-year jail term in May 2012 for helping the US CIA determine the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, leading the way for US forces to whisk him away in the May 2, 2011 raid. The senior judicial officer has now ruled that the assistant political agent of Khyber Agency, who found Afridi guilty, had no right to do so. The case will be reheard by the political agent for Khyber, at an undisclosed date. It should be noted the imprisonment of Dr Afridi has caused grave strains in relations between Washington and Islamabad, notably last year. Despite a patch over since then, the US remains eager to secure freedom for the man who led them to a key target.
Categories: Asia