Pakistan doctor who helped CIA find Osama bin Laden sentenced

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Pakistani doctor who led a phony vaccination campaign aimed at helping the CIA pinpoint Osama bin Laden's whereabouts was convicted of treason Wednesday and sentenced to 33 years in prison, a decision that is likely to further fray Washington's fragile relations with Islamabad.

U.S. officials have been seeking the release of Shakeel Afridi since his arrest by Pakistani authorities after the secret American commando raid that killed the Al Qaeda leader in his sprawling compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad a year ago.

In January, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told CBS' "60 Minutes" that Afridi had provided intelligence that assisted the raid and criticized Pakistan's arrest of someone involved in helping track down the world's most wanted man.

From the start, however, Pakistani authorities have regarded Afridi as a traitor and have ignored Washington's calls for his release. He was tried in a tribal court in Khyber, the region along the Afghan border where he had been the chief surgeon. The trial was held behind closed doors, and no media were allowed.

Under Pakistani law, Afridi could have been given the death penalty. In addition to prison, he was fined about $3,500.

The phony hepatitis B vaccination scheme Afridi oversaw was aimed at obtaining DNA evidence from Bin Laden's residence, a three-story compound down the road from Pakistan's version of West Point and just two hours' drive from the capital, Islamabad. DNA samples would have allowed U.S. authorities to compare that evidence with DNA from Bin Laden relatives that was on file in Washington.

[link to www.latimes.com]