The story of Shakeel Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA locate Osama Bin Laden and sentenced Pakistan to 33 years in prison

Considered a hero in america, but disowned as a traitor in pakistan, the doctor Shakeel Afridi has already paid heavy tribute for his role in the death of Osama Bin Laden. Ten years later, his ordeal is far from over.

When organizing a fake hepatitis C campaign, this Pakistani doctor helped the CIA locate bin Laden Abbottabad, in northern Pakistan, where the leader of Al Qaida was to be liquidated by US special forces on May 2, 2011.

Imprisoned since, Dr Afridi is isolated in a prison in the province of Punjab (center). And nothing indicates that one day he will be exonerated by Pakistani justice. He currently spends his time counting the days, all equal to each other.

“Let’s be clear: Afridi paid the highest price in the attack on bin Laden”, explains to AFP Michael Kugelman, deputy director for Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington. “He became the scapegoat”, dice.

The AFP reconstituted the daily life of Afridi thanks to interviews with his brother and his lawyer, since the doctor is not allowed to talk to anyoneexcept with his family and supporters.

To stay physically, walks in his cell measuring two by two meters, Y does sit-ups, according to his relatives. Has a copy of the Quran but you are not entitled to any other book.

A few times a week, he shaves in the presence of a guard, but he is not allowed to have any contact with other detainees.

Your family members can visit it twice a monthBut they have to stay behind a metal fence and cannot speak to him in Pashtun, his mother tongue.

“Lead by example”

“The prison authorities told us that we could not talk about politics, or the situation inside the prison,” said his brother. Jamil Afridi.

Originally from the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan, the doctor was well placed, with his knowledge of Pashtun, to help the CIA, which was approaching bin Laden’s hiding place.

The North American agency only needed one physical evidence of the presence in Abbottabad of the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks. So he asked Shakeel Afridi to launch a fake vaccination campaign to obtain a DNA sample from a person living in a residence.

The exact role of the doctor in identifying Bin Laden is not clear. But it was arrested by Pakistani authorities a few weeks later.

He has never been convicted of bin Laden’s death. But one Sentence of 33 years in prison for financing an extremist group, under an obscure law dating back to colonial times.

Successive toThe American administrations protested against their situation. Over the years, the possibility of a prisoner exchange has been considered, but no agreement has been reached.

“Today he is imprisoned for setting an example for every Pakistani not to cooperate with a Western intelligence agency.” affirms to the AFP Husain Haqqani, who was Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States in 2001.

Forget it

Instead of telling the truth about Bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan, the authorities have made Dr Afridi a scapegoat“He adds.

The 10th anniversary of bin Laden’s disappearance comes weeks after the President of the United States, Joe biden, confirm the complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan before September 11.

Justifying his departure in a speech to the Nation, Biden cited the death of bin Laden as proof, he said, that the United States had long since achieved the initial objective of invading Afghanistan.

He didn’t mention Shakeel Afridi’s name.

© Agence France-Presse

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