Pakistan orders Save the Children foreign workers to leave

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Pakistan has given foreigners working for Save the Children a week to leave the country after becoming convinced that the aid organisation was used as cover by US spies hunting Osama bin Laden.

The aid group had been under suspicion from authorities ever since a doctor accused of assisting the CIA in its search for the al-Qaida leader claimed that Save the Children had introduced him to US intelligence officers.

But now Pakistani officials claim they have "concrete proof" backing up the story of Shakil Afridi, the doctor from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan who confessed to the ISI, the country's military spy agency, after being arrested last year.

Although Save the Children and the US government have always denied any relationship between the CIA and the aid organisation, Pakistani officials say they are fully justified in expelling the few foreign staff still working in the country.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/sep/05/pakistan-voluntarysector

[Robb]

1. I know Save the Children. They're not spooks.

Pakistan's loss. The people, that is.

[BlueMTexpat]

4. +1000!

Unfortunately, our politics-dominated US foreign policy, especially since 1980, have ensured that Pakistan is indeed a hostile area - even for its own citizens.

Which is a tragedy because the Pakistanis I know are good and decent people. The real tragedy goes all the way back to partition.

[cosmicone]

2. Pakistan, claiming to fight the war on terror

seem to be the only country in the world saddened by the death of bin Laden.

Yet, we keep sending Pakistan billions to terrorize even more people.

[Vidar]

3. Not surprising, given our indiscriminate use of drones on a supposed ally.

[KoKo]

5. Agree...I'd worry about them, also. Many of our charities get used and infiltrated

by those who use them to their own ends. We've seen this time after time...the latest being the Susan Komen Foundation...and there have been others like Red Cross and numerous charities promoted on MSM by folks thinking they were doing good who hired people who exploited those they were supposed to help or some Government entity got involved and used the charity to spy or undermine countries that they were in there to help "the people"...but, ended up helping Dictators or other nefarious groups.