US lawmaker seeks Congressional Medal for Pak Osama spotter

New York, Feb 22: A US lawmaker has demanded that a Pakistani doctor who led CIA to the world's most wanted fugitive Osama bin Laden be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California, has said that doctor Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani who helped lead the CIA to Osama bin Laden last May should be honoured with the Congressional Gold Medal and be made an American citizen, New York Times reported.

The whereabouts of Afridi are not known after he was arrested by Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) after the highly successful hit by US Navy SEALs on bin Laden at his hideout in the garrison town of Abbottabad.

Media reports said that Islamabad was on the verge of handing over the doctor to US, till ties between the two nations deteriorated after the November 26 cross border raid by US forces that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Rohrabacher has already earned Pakistan's wrath by introducing a resolution in Congress seeking self-determination for Balochistan. The Republican Congressman, who leads the House Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Oversight and Investigations, has a history of aggressive Congressional action against Pakistan.

He recently described Pakistan as a "two-faced enemy of the US" and tried to limit American aid to Islamabad. The Congressional Gold Medal is an exceptional honour in US and other Asian recipients includes the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

PTI