Zeenews Bureau
Peshawar: Dr Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) track Osama bin Laden, has been kept in a special cell by the Peshawar Central Prison authorities.
The prison authorities fear hardcore militants languishing in the prison could attack Afridi; hence the security has been tightened for the doctor.
According to The News, sources in the Home and Tribal Affairs Department said that dozens of hardcore militants who had links with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant organisations, including al Qaeda, were also being held in the Peshawar Central Prison.
Shakil Afridi ran a fake vaccination campaign to get DNA sample of the children of al Qaeda chief in Abbottabad.
The 33-year jail term to Afridi has created outrage in the US with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling it "unjust and unwarranted" and a Senate panel voting to cut aid to Islamabad.
However, Pakistan on Thursday rejected US criticism over jailing Afridi, saying Washington should respect decisions of the country's courts.
First Published: Saturday, May 26, 2012, 10:35