ISI chief rules out handing over Dr Shakeel Afridi to US

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ISI chief Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam. - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam has ruled out handing over Dr Shakil Afridi to the US, DawnNews reported.

Speaking at a press briefing, the ISI chief said that the US should consider the chapter of Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped the US kill al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, closed.

“He (Dr Afridi) will never be bartered for Dr Afia Siddiqui, no such proposal is under consideration,” said Islam.

Afridi was picked up by the ISI from near Peshawar, two weeks after Osama’s death. The official said that Afridi had accepted helping the CIA by running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad a month before the raid on OBL’s compound.

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