US lawmaker asks Pak to free doc who helped in tracing Laden

A US lawmaker has asked Islamabad to free Shakil Afridi, the "hero" doctor who helped the CIA to trace out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. "Pakistan claims to be United States' number one counterterrorism ally, yet they hypocritically hold this hero in a Pakistani prison. Pakistan is no friend of the US," Congressman Ted Poe said at the US House of Representatives. "They are on the wrong side on the war on terror.

Pakistan hid Osama bin Laden from the world," the Congressman said in his remarks on Monday. The Republican lawmaker from Texas said Dr Afridi deserves a medal for aiding the elimination of Osama bin Laden."Pakistan should free him, and it is time to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. And that is just the way it is," he said. "Speaker, the day that Laden, the world's number one terrorist, met his maker was a great day in the war on terror. But finding America's most wanted terrorist hiding in Pakistan was no easy feat," he said."Pakistani Dr Afridi worked with our CIA to help determine and confirm Osama's hiding place in Pakistan by using DNA evidence.