FO refutes reports of handing over Dr Shakeel Afridi to US

Pakistan on Thursday has refuted reports of its handing over Dr Shakeel Afridi to United States in a deal.

In a weekly briefing, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal denied the reports of Pakistan dealing with anyone regarding Dr Afridi, reported local media.

Turning down questions about media reports claiming that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had tried to stage a jailbreak in Peshawar to rescue Dr Afridi, the FO spokesperson said that the issue regarding Dr Afridi was being handled by the interior ministry and he held no information.

Pakistan will neither release nor hand over Dr Shakeel Afridi to US

According to local media reports, Afridi was shifted from Peshawar to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi last week.

Dr. Afridi,was arrested after US forces killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011 in a secret raid in a northern Pakistani town. It had emerged that the doctor had passed on information about Bin Laden to CIA.

Afridi was arrested soon after the bin Laden raid and charged with having ties to militant, which he denied.