Pak doc jailed for helping US track Osama

A Pakistani doctor,accused of helping CIA reach the doorsteps of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden,was Wednesday handed down a 33-year rigorous imprisonment term for committing treason under the British-era tribal laws.

Shakil Afridi was accused of running a CIA-sponsored fake vaccine programme in Abbottabad,where Osama was killed last year on May 2 in a covert US operation. His programme was aimed at obtaining DNA samples from any of Osamas family members residing in the compound.

Official sources said that Afridi was awarded jail term under the tribal laws,known as Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The British-era FCR is still effective in Pakistans tribal regions. Afridi was sent to main prison in Peshawar,sources said. The government has already sacked him from its services.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said in January that Afridi had helped the CIA by collecting DNA to verify Osamas presence.