ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani commission probing the US raid on Osama bin Laden says a doctor who helped the CIA track the al-Qaida chief should be put on trial for high treason.

Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a phony vaccination program in the Pakistani town where the al-Qaida leader hid in an effort to obtain a DNA sample from him.

Afridi is being detained by Pakistan's intelligence agency.

American officials want him released, and his fate has become a complicating issue in strained relations between the two country's spy services.

The government commission investigating the bin Laden affair said Thursday it had gathered evidence against Afridi that was strong enough for authorities to register a case of high treason against him. Such a charge carries the death penalty.