US promises ‘creative solutions’ for Shakil Afridi’s release as congressman suggests trade with Aafia Siddiqui
The US State Department has pledged to find creative ways to get Dr Shakil Afridi out of prison in Pakistan, after a US lawmaker suggested trading him for Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
Afridi was accused of helping the US track down Osama bin Laden in 2011 and jailed for 33 years the following year. Siddiqui, meanwhile, is serving out her sentence after a Manhattan court in 2010 found she had opened fire at US soldiers while in their custody in Afghanistan.
The suggestion for a trade came during a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the 2024 budget for South and Central Asian region earlier this week as US Congressman Brad Sherman put a State Department official on the spot.
Sherman, who will be hosting a hearing on democracy and human rights in Pakistan on July 26, started by asking Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Horst if she or someone from the department would attend the meeting.
“Absolutely, we will be delighted to talk about what we are doing in Pakistan,” she replied.
Sherman then talked about how a team of US commandos eliminated the Al Qaeda leader in Abbottabad in 2011.
“We forget how important it was to get Osama bin Laden. Here is a man who killed thousands of Americans on American soil. What would our image be if we had not gotten him,” he said. “How many terrorist attacks would he have inspired? How would he have actually planned!”
Sherman then recalled Dr Afridi, who reportedly located OBL in his hideout in Abbottabad, “the 24th member” of the 23-member US team that eliminated Bin Laden.
“No man was left behind until you realise there was a 24th man — Dr Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who risked his life to help us get the worst terrorist in the world,” he said.
“He remains behind bars. He doesn’t have an American family, or American fans really, to put pressure on the State Department to get him out,” he said.
“Are we willing to make sure Afridi gets out and are we willing to take steps that are unpleasant in order to get him out?” he asked.
“Of course, as you know, we are very concerned about Dr Afridi. He is innocent and we would like to get him out,” Horst replied.
The lawmaker then asked: “Would we trade Siddiqui for Afridi?”
“I cannot answer a question on that now, but I can promise is to look into [it], see what kind of creative solutions we might do to bring Afridi,” Horst said.
“Are you opposed to trading Siddiqui for Afridi?” Sherman asked before the US State Department official could finish her answer.
“I would have to look at the legal ramifications of that,” Horst said in response.
“The president can let out anybody he wants,” Sherman pointed out.
“It’s a sort of thing that I would want to consult my colleagues at Department of Justice but I agree with you that we need to work to get Dr Afridi out,” Horst said.
Sherman argued that Washington had tried other options in the past and nothing worked, stating that trading him with Dr Siddiqui was the only option.
During the hearing, almost all lawmakers talked about Pakistan’s political and economic troubles, asking Horst and another witness, Dr Michael Schiffer of USAID, what the Biden administration was doing to help defuse these crises.
“I know the integrity of Pakistan’s democracy is a key concern to those on this committee. We firmly believe that a prosperous, democratic and human-rights-respecting Pakistan is important to US interests,” Horst said.
“We use our foreign assistance to support Pakistan’s independent civil society, strengthening their advocacy for reforms, oversight, and accountability,” she added.
The State Department official said that US assistance to Pakistan targeted areas where “we can productively collaborate with Pakistan, including on countering terrorism, providing health, and addressing the climate crisis”.
Recalling how the US helped Pakistan during last year’s catastrophic floods, she said: “Moving forward, our resources will focus on climate-smart agriculture, clean energy and water management.”
The committee’s chair, Congressman Joe Wilson, said the members were concerned about Pakistan because it was “America’s long-term partner”.
Congressman Dean Philips noted that Pakistan, a major non-Nato ally and the only formal US ally in the region, was experiencing multiple crises at the moment.
Natural disasters, he said, combined with “one of the very worst economic crises in Pakistan’s history, widespread protests because of former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest, and increased attacks from the Pakistani Taliban have left the country terribly vulnerable.”
“Ensuring the future of democracy and long-term stability in Pakistan are in our national security interests. And I do hope (to know) how the Biden administration is supporting the people of Pakistan during these challenging times,” he added.
Congresswoman Young Kim said that under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China had built a major port at Gwadar, coupled with a dual-use, military airbase, and naval facility in nearby Jiwani.
“Under the guise of economic development, China is using its South Asian neighbours to advance its agenda and undermining the rules-based international order,” she claimed.
Representative Ami Bera said that Democrats and Republicans agreed on countering China’s economic coercion in South Asia and suggested “robust funding to provide alternatives to China’s Belt and Road initiative”.
Congressman Andy Barr said that China was investing more than $62 billion in Pakistan, which was already more than $30bn in debt to China and was unable to pay back.
“Are we involved” in helping Pakistan, he asked.
“So, in Pakistan, absolutely. The DFC (US Development Finance Corporation) is very interested in Pakistan and has a project with the wind farms, that’s showing an alternative way of financing,” Horst said.
Commenting on CPEC, she said that this was something the US had “long cautioned” Pakistan about.
“And we have said ‘buyer, beware’. And several years into the CPEC, I think the Pakistanis can make their own decision on whether this was a great investment,” she added.