Leon Panetta, U.S. Defense Secretary, Worried about Osama bin Laden Informant

The United States Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, told the media on Friday that he is very concerned about the welfare of the doctor who told the U.S. where Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan. “60 Minutes” is set to air an interview with Panetta on Sunday and some of the preview clips show Panetta talking about the informant.

Panetta was quick to say that the individual who provided some information to the U.S. was in no way treasonous to Pakistan. Dr. Shakeel Afridi helped the Central Intelligence Agency conduct a campaign for vaccinations as a means of collecting DNA samples from some individuals who were in Osama bin Laden’s compound. The DNA samples that were collected helped to prove that bin Laden was indeed living there.

Alfridi has been charged with treason and the Pakistani government was very angry as to how the raid was carried out. Neither the Pakistan military nor the government was notified that the United States would be carrying out such a mission beforehand.

Panetta said that while Pakistan is free to punish Afridi in the manner they see fit, he feels that Afridi should be released. There were many who believed that the United States did not release information about Afridi’s identity because they were fearful about possible prosecution against Afridi by the Pakistani military and government.

Panetta also said that he believes there was at least one person in the Pakistani government or military who knew where Osama bin Laden was hiding. He said that he simply cannot believe that the Pakistani helicopters that flew over the compound would not be aware of what was inside the 18 foot walls. Panetta said that the Pakistani government was not told about the mission beforehand because of security concerns. He believes that if Pakistan knew about the raid, bin Laden would have escaped before the mission started.

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