A US lawmaker who has been rallying support for Dr Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor imprisoned for helping CIA track Osama bin Laden, has said that “we’ve abandoned this hero”.
Rep Dana Rohrabacher, renewed his call on Tuesday – the 11th anniversary of 9/11, for the US to do more to bring attention to Afridi’s imprisonment and pressure Pakistan to free him. Rohrabacher addressed the case after Fox News aired what it called Afridi’s exclusive interview from the prison. But Rohrabacher expressed grave disappointment with how Washington has handled the case to date. “I have been for the last two months pleading with everybody who I can get a hold of that we must intervene with Pakistan to free Dr Afridi and end his horrendous incarceration,” the congressman told FoxNews.com. “He stood up for us and now we’re not even speaking out in a loud voice and demanding justice for him.” He added: “We should be speaking out right now and instead we’ve abandoned this hero.” The congressman made his latest plea to colleagues at the weekly GOP conference meeting on Tuesday morning. He says Congress should at least be publicly recognizing his “heroism” on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, as Afridi helped the CIA ultimately track bin Laden and bring him to justice for that deadly attack on American soil. Rohrabacher accused both Congress and the Obama administration of “inaction” on the matter. However, he said he plans to speak with Sen Rand Paul, on the other side of Capitol Hill about tackling the Afridi issue.