During a joint press conference with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully on May 24, 2012, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. regrets the conviction of Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi for helping the CIA track down al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Remarks as delivered:
"On the conviction of Dr. Shakil Afridi in Pakistan, as I've said before, the United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr. Afridi. We regret both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence. His help, after all, was instrumental in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers. That was clearly in Pakistan's interests as well as ours and the rest of the world. This action by Dr. Afridi to help bring about the end of the reign of terror designed and executed by bin Ladin was not in any way a betrayal of Pakistan. And we have made that very well known and we will continue to press it with the Government of Pakistan."
