Jailed doctor who helped nab Osama bin Laden says Pakistan sees U.S. as ‘worst enemy’


The jailed doctor who helped the U.S. military locate the compound of Osama bin Laden now says Pakistan views the United States as its "worst enemy."

Medical doctor Shakil Afridi also says in an exclusive interview with Fox News that Pakistan's claims of cooperation with the U.S. are a sham to collect billions of dollars in aid.

Afridi said Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency is openly hostile to the U.S and prevents the CIA from interrogating militants captured by Pakistan.

"I tried to argue that America was Pakistan's biggest supporter—billions and billions of dollars in aid, social and military assistance—but all they said was, 'These are our worst enemies. You helped our enemies,'" Afridi told Fox News in an interview from inside Peshawar Central Jail, where he is being held.

Pakistan views Afridi as a traitor for cooperating with the U.S. He supposedly led a fake vaccination drive to get DNA samples from children in the compound in Abbottabad where the al-Qaida leader was hiding. The CIA reportedly used the genetic information and compared it with other bin Laden family members to confirm Osama was inside.

Afridi told Fox he was never aware the CIA was closing in on bin Laden.

"I didn't know about a specific target apart from the work I was given to do," he said. " I was aware that some terrorists were residing in that compound, but I didn't know whom. I was shocked. I didn't believe I was associated in his killing."

Afridi described being held in the basement of ISI headquarters at Apbara, in the capital city of Islamabad. He said during the 12 months he was held by the ISI he was tortured with cigarette burns and electric shocks. He was also blindfolded and handcuffed for months and placed in solitary confinement, he said.

He told Fox News the ISI has "a regime of perpetual torture and interrogation for large numbers of detainees." The spy agency tells detainees to feign illness when CIA interrogators visit and to make false and misleading statements to U.S. visitors.

Why did he help the U.S.?

"I have a lot of respect and love for your people," he said, adding that he was "proud to work with" the CIA.

His current jail cell at Peshawar, about 120 miles north of Islamabad, is larger and has more amenities than his ISI basement cell, including a bed, a bathroom and ceiling fans.

He told Fox News that he is being held on "fabricated allegations" and needs financial, diplomatic and legal help for his case.