ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday said it was unaware about “any deal” over Dr Shakeel Afridi, the physician who is said to have run a phony vaccination campaign in Abbottabad for tracking Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden before his elimination in a US special forces raid in 2011 on his sanctuary in the town.

Afridi, who is serving a jail sentence, was in a surprise move shifted to Adiala jail from Peshawar prison a few days ago. His shifting sparked rumours that it was done after reports about a foreign plot to get him released.

“The subject of the reported jailbreak is being dealt by the ministry of interior,” FO spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said at his weekly briefing.

There was hardly any effort to end the speculation about his transfer and reports of his impending release and shifting abroad.

US does not swap prisoners, says State Department

The spokesman said that talks between Pakistan and the United States over restrictions on movement of diplomats posted in each other’s country were taking place. He was optimistic about an amicable settlement of the row.

Besides, the spokesman chided India for playing politics on humanitarian issues and underscored Pakistan’s opposition to exploiting human sufferings for meagre gains.

The statement was made after Pakistan repatriated an ailing Indian Jatindera Arjanwaran, whose release had been delayed because of late verification of his nationality.

In Washington, the US State Dep­art­ment said America did not use extradition for swapping prisoners, rejecting media reports that the Trump administration was considering options to exchange Shakeel Afridi with those wanted in Islamabad.

“The extradition process in the US is governed by relevant treaties and domestic statutes. It is not used to trade prisoners,” a State Department spokesperson told journalists when asked if the Trump administration was ready to trade Dr Afridi with Aafia Siddiqui or Husain Haqqani.

Religious political groups in Pakistan want Islamabad to bring Dr Siddiqui home because they consider her a victim of the US-led war against terrorism. In the US, she is seen as an Al Qaeda activist convicted by a court for life for allegedly attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan and for her alleged association with terrorist groups like Al Qaeda.

Mr Haqqani, former Pakistani ambassador to US, is accused of sending a memo to a former US military chief, seeking his help to stop a military coup in Pakistan following the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011. He faces treason and other charges in Pakistan’s courts.

In a statement issued in Washington, Mr Haqqani claimed that Pakistani establishment was harassing him by spreading “such baseless rumours.”

“It seems that lies and fantasies have now become a staple in Pakistan, unfortunately,” he said. It’s time for Pakistan to deal with its real problems, such as the highest infant mortality rate in the world, instead of wasting its time on non-issues, he added.

Anwar Iqbal from Washington also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2018