Shakil Afridi, jailed bin Laden doctor, says Pakistan’s ISI considers US its “worst enemy”
This photograph shows Pakistani surgeon Shakil Afridi, who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden. The court judgment from his sentencing showed on May 30, 2012, that he was tried for treason for links to a militant group, not for helping the CIA.
KARACHI, Pakistan– Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA find former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's compound, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News that Pakistan's spy agency thinks of the United States as its "worst enemy."
Afridi, who has been jailed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Agency (ISI), was arrested for running a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence in Abbotabad. Pakistani officials were enraged that they had no knowledge of the operation.
After US backlash, Pakistan changed its tune, stating that the doctor had a history of sexual harassment and assault. They convincted him in May 2012 of high treason, alleging that he had close ties with Lashkar-e-Islam, a militant group. Laskhkar-e-Islam has since denied the claim.
Now, speaking for the first time, Afridi told Fox News that he was brutally tortured by the ISI.
“I tried to argue that America was Pakistan’s biggest supporter – billions and billions of dollars in aid, social and military assistance — but all they said was, ‘These are our worst enemies. You helped our enemies.’”
He also alleged that the ISI helps to fund the Haqqani network, a militant network based in North Waziristan.
“Without doubt, the Haqqanis are 100 percent supported by the ISI,” said Afridi.
The United States State Department designated the Haqqani network as a terrorist organization last week.
The veracity of Afridi's interview with Fox News has been called into question. According to the BBC, Afridi's lawyer said that his client was kept under "very strict security," and had limited visitation in the Peshawar maximum security prison in Peshawar in which he is currently held.
Afridi has also received death threats from the Pakistani Taliban, who vowed to cut him into pieces for aiding in the death of bin Laden. However, Afridi maintained that he had no idea who the target of the investigation was.
"We will cut him into pieces when we find him," Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told CNN by phone last May. "He spied for the US to hunt down our hero Osama bin Laden."
Last week, Pakistan ordered the expulsion of all foreign aid workers of UK-based charity Save the Children on suspicions that they aided Afridi with his vaccination campaign.