Pakistan has denied identity cards to the family of Shakeel Afridi, the jailed doctor believed to have helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden in 2011, blocking college enrolment for his children, their lawyer said on Friday.
Afridi was accused of treason after word spread that he had helped the CIA collect DNA samples of the bin Laden family, paving the way for a secret US Navy Seal raid that killed the al Qaeda leader in the town of Abbottabad.
He was arrested days after the US operation – which Pakistan protested as a violation of sovereignty – and charged with aiding militants.
Now his 19-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son have been denied national identity cards, essential documents for Pakistanis, said Qamar Nadeem, the family's lawyer in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Nadeem said Afridi's children required identity cards for college enrolment, but authorities refused to issue them because their father had been barred from leaving the country.
"Afridi is in jail and his name has been put on the exit control list," Nadeem said. "I don't understand how he can escape from jail and leave the country."
Written by Jibran Ahmad; Reuters
