No talks with Pakistan on Afia repatriation: US

ISLAMABAD: There is no discussion going on between Pakistan and US regarding return of two prisoners including Afia Siddiqui to their home, said Meghan Guerero, the spokesperson of US embassy in Pakistan.

Talking to this correspondent the spokesperson said that there is no extradition treaty between Pakistan and US. “It is for Pakistan to decide about such a treaty,” she said after getting instruction from Washington. The US administration also allowed publication of her statement.

Replying to a question about Shakeel Afridi who posed as a doctor to trace the residence of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, she said that US will raise the issue at a high-level meeting with Pakistani leadership. She further said that secretary of state John Kerry raised the issue with Islamabad administration on August 1, 2013. She said that they have seen reports about retrial of Shakeel Afridi. She said that US stance on the case is clear. US considers the treatment meted out to Shakeel Afridi unjust and unwarranted. “We are sad and sorry that he was condemned as a criminal and punished,” she said.

Meghan Guerero said, “The new turn to the Shakeel Afridi case given by Pakistan points to the fact that to do justice with Osama Bin Laden is in the interest of Pakistan. We constantly believe that trial of Afridi and punishment awarded to him will send a wrong message with respect to mutual interest of the two countries. US has made this point of view absolutely clear to Pakistan in private as well as in public. This issue will be raised in a meeting of senior leadership of US and Pakistan. We are concerned about the health and welfare of Shakeel Afridi in jail. We have encouraged the steps taken by Pakistan government for the security of Shakeel Afridi and his family.”