Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor imprisoned after the US killing of Osama bin Laden, is not on a hunger strike, a prison official told BBC on Friday.
Ayub Khan, assistant superintendent of the central jail in Peshawar, was quoted as saying that he had seen Afridi eat in his cell, BBC reported. The report said Afridi’s brother and other sources had said he went on a strike earlier this week to protest against the conditions at the jail where he was being held in solitary confinement after his 33-year sentence.
Afridi has said he was unaware of playing a role in the US raid that led to the killing of the leader of al Qaeda in Abbottabad last year. He was jailed for supporting a militant group, but the BBC said it was widely believed he was punished for helping the US Central Intelligence Agency with the bin Laden raid. He was alleged to have used a fake vaccination effort to try to get DNA samples of the bin Laden family, the BBC said. Afridi’s brother was quoted as saying the doctor had not been allowed to see relatives ever since his phone interview with Fox News from his prison cell in September. However, Khan told the BBC he went to Afridi’s cell where he was seen eating lunch while sitting on a prayer mat. In his Fox News interview, Afridi was quoted as saying he was not aware the US intelligence agency was targeting bin Laden. He also said he had been kidnapped and tortured by Pakistani intelligence, the BBC report said.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, citing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the US had “believed all along that the prosecution and conviction of Dr Afridi sends absolutely the wrong message, particularly with regard to our shared interest in taking down one of the world’s most notorious terrorists”.
US to raise Dr Afridi’s hunger strike with Pakistan
United States (US) State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the US is concerned about the safety of Dr Shakil Afridi who should not have been locked up in the first place and the issue of his hunger strike would be raised at a series of forthcoming meetings with Pakistan. Briefing newsmen on Thursday, Nuland said the US believed all along that the prosecution and conviction of Afridi sent an entirely wrong message, particularly with regard to the two countries’ shared interest in taking down one of the world’s most notorious terrorists. She added the US is having a series of working group meetings with Pakistan, which will give them a chance to raise their concerns over the matter. “We want to see Dr Shakil Afridi released and safe,” said Nuland, “Dr Shakil Afridi should never have been locked up to begin with.” US has consistently called for the release of Afridi, who is believed to have helped the CIA in pinpointing Osama bin Laden’s hideout in the garrison town of Abbottabad for which he faces a treason charge. Recently the US Senate allowed a proposed bill to be placed on its calendar for hearing which concerns payment of millions of dollars in counterinsurgency funds to Pakistan for the release of Afridi among other conditions.
Let him die unnatural death, an enemy of the country
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