ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has said that Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA track down former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, broke the country’s laws and that he will not be handed over to anyone.
In his weekly media briefing on Friday in Islamabad, the Foreign Office Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said that the cases against Afridi would be dealt as per Pakistan’s laws.
When asked about a Washington Post report which claimed that Pakistani government officials knew about US drone strikes and gave their backing for them, the spokesman said he did not want to go into details, adding that everyone was aware of the present government’s stance on these attacks.
Talking about the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent visit to US, he said that the prime minister reiterated the country’s stance on drone strikes during his meeting with US President Barack Obama.
The spokesman said that prime minister’s visit to US had been fruitful, adding that counter-terrorism, energy, trade and other matters of mutual interest were discussed with concerned officials during the trip.
Chaudhry said that the situation in Afghanistan was also discussed in the meeting between the two leaders, adding that they agreed to support the reconciliation process in the war-torn country.
Moreover, he said that the US had no objections over the Pakistani government initiating a dialogue with militant organisations. On the contrary, it supported the talks, he added.
Responding to a question regarding a meeting between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh over ceasefire along the Line of Control, the FO spokesman said it was disappointing on India’s part to target 27 Pakistani check posts.
Chaudhry said that in the past few months, India had violated the ceasefire and killed a number of civilians.
