Pakistan jails ‘Bin Laden’ doctor

A Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama Bin Laden has been jailed for at least 30 years, officials say.Shakil Afridi was charged with treason and tried under the tribal justice system for running a fake vaccination programme to gather information.The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had called for his release on the grounds that his work served Pakistani and American interests.Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Abbottabad in May 2011.The killing triggered a rift between the US and Pakistan, whose government was seriously embarrassed to find Bin Laden had been living in Pakistan.Islamabad felt the covert US operation was a violation of its sovereignty.Shortly after the raid on Bin Ladens house, Dr Afridi was arrested for conspiring against the state of Pakistan.Pakistan has insisted that any country would have done the same if it found one of its citizens working for a foreign spy agency.Dr Afridi has been found guilty in Khyber district, and has also been fined $3,500. If he does not pay the fine his prison sentence will be extended by a further three years.Under the tribal justice system, the administrative head of a tribal district performs the function of a judge.Typically, this means a court will often deliver swift justice and does not necessarily follow the regular judicial procedures.Dr Afridi, who is now being held in jail in Peshawar, was not present in court so was unable to give his side of the story.