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Pakistan Paves Way for Release of Doctor Who Helped Hunt Down Bin Laden

A roadside vendor sells newspapers with headlines about the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in Lahore May 3, 2011. (Reuters)
A roadside vendor sells newspapers with headlines about the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in Lahore May 3, 2011. (Reuters)
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Pakistan Paves Way for Release of Doctor Who Helped Hunt Down Bin Laden

A roadside vendor sells newspapers with headlines about the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in Lahore May 3, 2011. (Reuters)
A roadside vendor sells newspapers with headlines about the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in Lahore May 3, 2011. (Reuters)

Pakistani authorities are expected to release Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA hunt down Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, after being transferred to the city of Rawalpindi from Peshawar, where he has been jailed for seven years now.

The authorities arrested Afridi and later sentenced him to life imprisonment after the execution of Abbottabad operation, which ended in the death of bin Laden in May 2011.

His attorney said on Saturday that his jail transfer could be a prelude to his release.

Afridi was accused of treason after word spread he had helped the CIA collect genetic samples of the bin Laden family, paving the way for a US Navy SEAL raid in the town of Abbottabad that killed him.

The continued imprisonment of Afridi has long been a source of tension between Pakistan and the United States, which cut military aid over accusations Islamabad continues to shelter Taliban militants fighting US and Afghan soldiers across the border in Afghanistan.

A jail official in the northwestern city of Peshawar said Afridi was transferred to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, but said the reasons were unclear and could simply be security-related.

Afridi’s lawyer, Qamar Nadeem, confirmed the transfer of his client but said he was not sure where he was now.

Judicial officials could not be reached on Saturday nor could embassy officials for the United States, which has for years called on Pakistan to release Afridi, according to Reuters.

Bin Laden was accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people. Afridi was arrested days after the US operation – which Pakistan called a violation of its sovereignty – and charged with aiding terrorists.

He was sentenced to 23 years jail for financing terrorism. That conviction was overturned in 2013, but he is still serving time for other terrorism-related convictions, his lawyer said.

He also faced a murder trial related to the death of a patient more than a decade ago.

However, the lawyer said Afridi had recently had his latest sentence reduced to seven years in a clemency action and had served about that amount of time already. “So I think he can be released very soon,” Nadeem told Reuters.

Pakistani officials refused to comment on the developments, considering it an extremely sensitive issue.

"I can not comment on that issue at the moment," a senior Pakistani official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

A US State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, called on the Pakistani government to ensure Afridi’s safety.

“We are aware ‎of reports that Afridi has been transferred to another prison and call on the government of Pakistan to take all necessary measures to ensure his safety,” the official said.

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World

Belgium Joins South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel

A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)
A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Belgium Joins South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel

A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)
A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)

Belgium on Tuesday joined South Africa in a case brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The UN's highest court, based in The Hague, said in a statement that Brussels had filed a declaration of intervention.

Several countries including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Türkiye have already joined the case.

In December 2023, South Africa brought a case to the United Nations' highest court in The Hague, alleging Israel's Gaza offensive breached the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Israel denies the accusation.

In rulings in January, March and May 2024, the ICJ told Israel to do everything possible to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, including by providing urgently needed humanitarian aid to prevent famine.

These orders are legally binding, but the court has no concrete means to enforce them.

Israel has criticized the proceedings and rejected the accusations.

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The Israeli military's retaliatory campaign has since killed 70,369 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. The campaign has also displaced the majority of the 2.2 million people in the Palestinian territory.

Belgium was among a string of countries to recognize the State of Palestine in September, a status acknowledged by nearly 80 precent of UN members.

World

Ex-Aide Says Netanyahu Tasked Him with Making a Plan to Evade Responsibility for Oct. 7 Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
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Ex-Aide Says Netanyahu Tasked Him with Making a Plan to Evade Responsibility for Oct. 7 Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)

A former close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli leader instructed him to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach.

Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli Feldstein, who faces trial for allegedly leaking classified information to the press, made the explosive accusation during an extensive interview with Israel’s Kan news channel Monday night.

Critics have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of refusing to accept blame for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. But little is known about Netanyahu’s behavior in the days immediately following the attack, while the premier has consistently resisted an independent state inquiry.

Speaking to Kan, Feldstein said “the first task” he received from Netanyahu after Oct. 7, 2023, was to stifle calls for accountability.

“He asked me, ‘What are they talking about in the news? Are they still talking about responsibility?’” Feldstein said. “He wanted me to think of something that could be said that would offset the media storm surrounding the question of whether the prime minister had taken responsibility or not.”

He added that Netanyahu looked “panicked” when he made the request. Feldstein said he was later told by people in Netanyahu's close circle to omit the word “responsibility” from all statements.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel then launched a devastating war in Gaza that has killed nearly 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.

Netanyahu’s office called the interview a “long series of mendacious and recycled allegations made by a man with clear personal interests who is trying to deflect responsibility from himself,” Hebrew media reported.

Feldstein’s statements come after his indictment in a case where he is accused of leaking classified military information to a German tabloid to improve public perception of the prime minister following the killing of six hostages in Gaza in August of last year.

World

Ukraine Says Withdrawn Troops from Eastern Town of Siversk

Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)
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Ukraine Says Withdrawn Troops from Eastern Town of Siversk

Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the eastern town of Siversk, the General Staff said Tuesday, as Russia doubled down on its recent advances across the lengthy front line.

Russia announced the capture of the city in the heavily embattled Donetsk region almost two weeks ago, when Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov reported the gain to President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The Ukrainian army said that "to preserve the lives of our soldiers and the combat capability of our units, Ukrainian defenders have withdrawn from the settlement".

The Russians were helped by "a significant advantage in manpower and equipment" and weather conditions, it added.

The Ukrainian army was still fighting in Siversk's surroundings, and the city remains within the reach of Ukraine's fire, according to Kyiv's General Staff.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine and taking ground from outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces, with some of the fiercest battles taking place in Donetsk.

Putin, emboldened by recent gains, threatened at his year-end press conference last week to take more territory.

The Donetsk region is the key stumbling block in the US-led settlement talks and Ukraine says it is under pressure to cede the remaining part of the region to Russia.

Siversk is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last two major cities still under Ukrainian control in Donetsk -- an industrial and mining region in Moscow's sights.

The town was home to around 11,000 people before the war.

Eastern Ukraine has been ravaged since Russia launched its assault in February 2022, with tens of thousands of people killed and millions forced to flee their homes.