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Exclusive: Pakistan doctor in bin Laden case called corrupt,womanizer By Michael Georgy Posted 2012/05/28 at 9:38 pm EDT ISLAMABAD, May 28, 2012 (Reuters) — The Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden facedaccusations of corruption and other wrongdoing long before he wascaptured by Pakistani intelligence agents and then jailed for 33years for treason. In interviews over the weekend, several current and formerPakistani officials described the doctor, Shakil Afridi, as ahard-drinking womanizer who had faced accusations of sexualassault, harassment and stealing. They said his main obsession wasmaking easy money. According to a 2002 Pakistan health department document seen byReuters, Afridi was deemed to be corrupt and unreliable and unfitfor government service. U.S. officials have hailed Afridi, aged in his 40s, as a hero forhelping pinpoint bin Laden's location in the Pakistani town ofAbbottabad where the al Qaeda leader was killed in May last year ina raid by U.S. Navy SEALs. Officially Pakistan has said nothing about Afridi except that thecourt's decision to sentence him should be respected. But the freshaccusations about Afridi's character, coupled with hisimprisonment, will almost certainly lead to further strain onalready tense bilateral ties. Pakistani officials' attempts to cast doubt on Afridi's characterwill likely be viewed in some quarters as retaliation for his workwith the Americans, despite the disclosures in the 2002 Pakistanidocument. U.S. officials on Monday called the accusations characterassassination. In Washington, one senior official said the U.S.government was unaware of any questionable behavior by Afridi. "Available information showed Afridi was a respected member of thePakistani health care community," said the senior official. "We areaware of efforts, put in place since Dr. Afridi's arrest, todenigrate his character." Another U.S. official said: "It's nothing short of puzzling thatPakistani officials would disparage someone who helped in the huntfor bin Laden, a terrorist who had Pakistani blood on his hands." The Afridi family's lawyer declined to be drawn on the controversy."I cannot comment on any past allegations against him," Raza Safitold Reuters. Afridi ran a vaccination campaign in Abbottabad and used cheekswabs to try to gather DNA from bin Laden's children, said oneformer Pakistani security official familiar with the case. Accompanied by three health workers, he went to bin Laden's houseand told his wives that a vaccination program was underway in thearea, said the former security official. "A woman went in (to the house) and said 'bring the children out,the doctor is waiting and he will give them the drops'," the formerofficial said. "That's when he used the swabs." It was unclear whether the CIA used the swabs to determine if thechildren were bin Laden's. A DNA test can prove close bloodrelations and U.S. authorities could have matched the samples withprofiles it had collected from several of bin Laden's relatives. INADVERTENTLY CONFIRMED In Washington, another senior U.S. official with knowledge ofAfridi's work for the CIA said the doctor's vaccination efforts hadalso enabled him to gather intelligence on bin Laden's couriers whovisited the house. "Dr Afridi was inadvertently able to confirm something we alreadysuspected - that bin Laden's couriers practiced extraordinaryoperational security," the official said. "Was that a key to the raid? No. Was it important? Absolutely." U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Sunday that Afridi "wasnot working against Pakistan. He was working against al Qaeda. AndI hope that ultimately Pakistan understands that". "Because what they have done here, I think, you know, does not helpin the effort to try to re-establish a relationship between theUnited States and Pakistan." U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher introduced legislation inFebruary calling for Afridi to be granted U.S. citizenship and saidit was "shameful and unforgivable that our supposed allies" chargedhim. UNWANTED SCRUTINY Infuriated by the unilateral U.S. raid in a town just a two-hourdrive from the capital Islamabad, many in the country see Afridi asa villain who conspired against the state and brought unwantedscrutiny of Pakistan's attitude to militants. Last week, a tribal court sentenced him to 33 years in prison forworking with a foreign intelligence agency. Afridi is being kept in solitary confinement in a prison in thecity of Peshawar for fear that he may be targeted by Islamicmilitants also incarcerated there, said prison sources. Afridi had been working with the CIA for years before the bin Ladenraid, providing intelligence on militant groups in Pakistan'sunruly tribal region, said the former Pakistani security officialand a former Pakistani intelligence official. They and other officials said he was of questionable character."Afridi was known to perform surgeries even though hisqualification was basic and he was not authorized to conductsurgery," a senior provincial health official said. "He was accused of conducting surgeries of the eyes, nose, ears,kidneys." Afridi was also in contact with militant groups and treated Talibanfighters who were wounded in battle with the Pakistani military,said the former security official. The Taliban are described by the state as terrorists, and mostPakistanis strongly oppose their suicide bombing missions, andphilosophy. "Keeping in view his extreme lust for money, I am ashamed to evencall him a doctor. He is a corrupt, unreliable and low categoryofficer," said a March 2002 provincial health department report onAfridi's performance and conduct. The document described Afridi as unreliable, cruel and inhumane andgave him the lowest job performance scores in most categories. Itwent on to say: "If his overall character as a doctor is taken into account I wouldrecommend and feel that he is not at all fit for government serviceor any position where money is involved." CHARACTERLESS Tariq Hayat, formerly the highest government official in the Khybertribal region, said he knew Afridi when the doctor worked at ahospital there and was a senior medical officer. Hayat said he met him twice to question him over allegations thathe had sexually assaulted a nurse at his hospital and had stolenits electrocardiograph machines for his private practice. "I made him stand ... I told him you are a characterless person,you have no principles," said Hayat, adding he had Afridi fired andexpelled him from Khyber. "I said 'you are a thief, doctor'." A senior health official who said he saw a record of the case saida nurse had complained about sexual harassment to the regionalhealth director. That account was confirmed by a senior policeofficial who investigated Afridi. "A number of nurses had complained about him, that he had behavedinappropriately with them," said the police official, adding thatAfridi was also accused of stealing material sent by internationalaid agencies and selling it. These accounts could not be independently verified. Afridi's brother Jamil described the treason charges as baselessand said the doctor was being made a scapegoat. "If my brother had done something wrong, he had a valid U.S. visa.He could have fled the country," he said, adding that the familyhad received no offers of help from the U.S. government. He did not respond to questions about the charges of corruption andharassment. "I am in hiding because my life is in danger, all of our lives arein danger," Jamil Afridi said. "The family is safe for now but thepropaganda campaign in the media is putting us in a lot of danger." Some health workers who knew Afridi described him as a dedicated,polite professional. "He was very nice to all the people in the team and did his jobvery diligently," said Naseem Bibi, a nurse. She said she had been with him when the medical team visited binLaden's house. "Yes, he was very interested in this house on thatday, but I wasn't sure why," she said. EASY PREY His reputation hurt by allegations, Afridi was easy prey for theCIA which found him through his connections to Western aid agenciesin about 2009, said the former security official. "The man was living beyond his means after he was fired," said theformer security official. "He got married a third time. Hemaintained a couple of cars." Afridi, who came to Abbottabad to carry out the vaccinationcampaign apparently at the CIA's behest, blundered when he visitedthe district health officer in the town. He told the officer he was a volunteer who wanted to providevaccinations in a certain area and he gave the officer his realname, the former security official said. The team moved from house to house conducting vaccinations andleaving chalk marks on the door to show the people inside had beenvaccinated, as is customary in Pakistan. "They went in systematically the way a team is supposed to work,"said the official. "No eyebrows were raised." But after bin Laden was killed, his widows unwittingly helpedPakistani authorities track Afridi. "They said that the only time when somebody from outside visitedthe house, was this polio vaccination (team)," said the formersecurity official, who believed the only other visitor to the housewas bin Laden's courier, about once a month. Afridi was quickly scooped up by security officials. When interrogated, Afridi initially said he had no ties withAmericans, said the former security official. "He categorically denied everything to start with," said the formersecurity official. "But when the Americans started asking for him,then I think the cat was out of the bag." (Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad and Faris Ali in PESHAWAR,Ibrahim Shinwari in KHYBE, Saud Mehsud in DERA ISMAIL KHAN and MarkHosenball and Philip Stewart in WASHINGTON; Editing by RajuGopalakrishnan). We are high quality suppliers, our products such as 9v battery charger , aa/aaa battery charger for oversee buyer. 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