Pakistan Bars Doctor Involved in Bin Laden Raid From Foreign Travel

Posted September 6th, 2011 at 11:35 am (UTC-5)
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A Pakistani commission has imposed a travel ban on a Pakistani doctor who assisted the United States in the May 2 raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Dr. Shakeel Afridi ran a fake polio vaccination drive in the town of Abbottabad in an effort to obtain DNA samples of bin Laden's family.

Afridi is currently being detained by Pakistani authorities, but has not been charged with a crime.

The government-appointed Abbottabad Commission said in a statement Tuesday that all persons involved in the incident, including Afridi, would be banned from travelling abroad without special clearance.

The four-member commission is tasked with investigating how bin Laden was able to hide out in Pakistan for several years without being detected.

The probe is also focusing on how U.S. forces managed to track the al-Qaida leader down and carry out the operation in the garrison town of Abbottabad without Pakistan's prior knowledge.

The Pakistani government set up the panel amid public anger over the U.S. raid, which was seen as a violation of the country's sovereignty.

In July, the commission barred bin Laden's wives and children from leaving the country. Three of the al-Qaida leader's wives and children have been in Pakistani custody since the May 2 raid.

The commission is headed by a Supreme Court judge.