ISLAMABAD: The federal government has rejected a proposal to hand over Dr Shakil Afridi to the US in exchange for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui who has been languishing in an American jail.
The government has submitted a reply to a petition in the Islamabad High Court filed by a sister of Siddiqui. The reply said the proposal to extradite Afridi for the release of Siddiqui was not feasible. The suggestion for the handing over of Afridi for Siddiqui had come from Clive Smith, the American lawyer of Siddiqui.
Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Duggal told the court that there were some reservations on the draft of Siddiqui’s petition in the US court.
Justice Ejaz Ishaq of the Islamabad High Court said the government’s withdrawal of support for Siddiqui’s release was surprising. The court ordered the additional attorney general to take instructions from the government as what was the objection to Siddiqui’s petition?
The additional attorney General said that both Afridi and Siddiqui were Pakistanis while there was no prisoner exchange agreement between Pakistan and the United States.
Meanwhile, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq asked why Shakeel Afridi was important to the United States. What’s the status of his case?
The court was told that Afridi was a convict whose appeal was pending in the Peshawar High Court. Additional Attorney General Duggal told the court that former US President Joe Biden had denied a request and had not responded to a letter from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adding that the White House had not only not responded to the letter but also had not acknowledged receiving it.
