US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has criticised Pakistan's jailing of the doctor who helped the CIA to track down Osama bin Laden.
Speaking to ABC, Panetta said the jaliing had weakened diplomatic ties between the US and Pakistan and that the 33-year jail sentence was "so difficult to understand and so disturbing".
"This doctor was not working against Pakistan. He was working against al-Qaida, and I hope Pakistan understands that because what they have done here doesn't help re-establish a relationship between the United States and Pakistan." he further said.
Dr Shakil Afridi ran a fake vaccination program in Abbottabad, in order to gather data on the occupants of the house Bin Laden was hiding in. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison by a tribal court in Pakistan.
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