Interior Minister Rehman Malik. -File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Wednesday said that the investigations of Shakeel Afridi’s interview to the international media are underway, DawnNews reported.

Malik said that Afridi was not allowed to speak to media representatives and give any interviews.

Earlier it was reported that, Afridi, who helped the CIA nail Osama bin Laden, told a US television channel that the ISI considered America Pakistan’s “worst enemy”.

Fox News had claimed that its correspondent had conducted the interview in the Peshawar Centre Jail, and quoted Dr Afridi as saying that he suffered “brutal interrogation and torture” when arrested.

According to Fox News claims, Afridi accused the ISI of funding militants.

The ISI rubbished as ‘fiction’ on Tuesday a reported interview by a US TV channel of jailed Dr Shakeel Afridi, allegedly involved in tracing Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

“There is no evidence to suggest that Fox News correspondent had interviewed Dr Afridi,” a senior security official said after preliminary investigations.

“It is all concocted and baseless,” he said as he laughed off the claims made in the interview. “It’s amusing how well he (as reported in the interview) learnt about ISI operations from the cell in which he was kept blindfolded for eight months, as claimed by him,” he added.

The interior minister said that he will be visiting United States soon and he would also raise the issue of Dr Afia Siddiqui.

Commenting on the visit of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances’ delegation to Pakistan, Malik said that the team is visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Pakistan’s foreign office, Adding that, the team is not mandated to conduct any kind of investigation in this regard.

The UN team would hold meeting with Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, he added.

Opinion

Editorial

Return to the helm
Updated 28 Apr, 2024

Return to the helm

With Nawaz Sharif as PML-N president, will we see more grievances being aired?
Unvaxxed & vulnerable
Updated 28 Apr, 2024

Unvaxxed & vulnerable

Even deadly mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue and malaria have vaccines, but they are virtually unheard of in Pakistan.
Gaza’s hell
Updated 28 Apr, 2024

Gaza’s hell

Perhaps Western ‘statesmen’ may moderate their policies if a significant percentage of voters punish them at the ballot box.
Missing links
Updated 27 Apr, 2024

Missing links

As the past decades have shown, the country has not been made more secure by ‘disappearing’ people suspected of wrongdoing.
Freedom to report?
27 Apr, 2024

Freedom to report?

AN accountability court has barred former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife from criticising the establishment...
After Bismah
27 Apr, 2024

After Bismah

BISMAH Maroof’s contribution to Pakistan cricket extends beyond the field. The 32-year old, Pakistan’s...