In the wake of threats to the life of Dr Shakil Afridi, who was sentenced to 33 years of rigorous imprisonment and accused of helping the CIA in confirmation of al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approached the federal government asking that Afridi be shifted to another prison house. “We have informed the federal government of threats to Afridi’s life,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti remarked in a brief chat to reporters here on Saturday. Hoti said Afridi had become a high-profile prisoner in the province and there existed hard line militants in Peshawar and other jails of the province. On such grounds, he said the provincial government had established contacts with the federal government. “Dr Shakil Afridi is a prisoner of the federal government therefore, he may be shifted to another jail.” Hoti however claimed that “efforts are underway for making safe and secure all prison houses in the province”. He said the government was doing its best to avert a Bannu like incident in the future.
