The federal government has directed Save the Children, an international aid agency that allegedly helped Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the manhunt for former al Qaeda Chief Osama bin Laden, to send all international staff back to their countries.
“We received a phone call on Monday followed by an official letter from the Interior Ministry for sending foreign staff associated with our organization back to their home countries,” Save the Children spokesman Ghulam Qadir told Pakistan Today on Thursday. The spokesman said that government directed foreign staff of Save the Children to leave the country within two weeks. According to him, currently six foreigners were associated with the aid agency.
The aid agency came under suspicion over the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011. It is said that Save the Children, under supervision of Dr Shakeel Afridi, ran a fake vaccination program in Abbottabad that led to the tracing of al Qaeda chief Bin Laden.
Dr Shakeel Afridi has been sentenced to 33 years imprisonment for treason. A source in the Interior Ministry told Pakistan Today that after the Abbottabad operation, security agencies kept a close eye on the activities of Save the Children and checked its past record and after that it was decided to take action against this organization.
Qadir, the spokesman, said Save the Children would continue to operate in Pakistan. He said currently more than 2,000 local workers were serving in the agency so there was no question of closing down operations in Pakistan.
“We serve more than 7 million children and families across the country thanks to the dedication of our 2,000 Pakistani national staff members. Our work in Pakistan is funded by numerous donor nations. We will continue our work in Pakistan,” he added.
Talking about Dr Afridi’s link with Save the Children, the spokesman said Dr Afridi had never been an employee of the aid agency, nor had he worked as consultant or contractor for Save the Children in Pakistan. “We have thoroughly investigated all of his allegations, which proved to be untrue and false,” Qadir said. However, he said the agency records showed the only connection he had with Save the Children was to participate in four brief health worker trainings Save the Children conducted in 2007, 2008 and 2010.