Dr Shireen Mazari, Central Information Secretary PTI, Sunday raised some serious concerns regarding the US push for a Prisoner Swap Agreement with Pakistan. The US has said it would agree to "release" Dr Aafia Siddiqui into Pakistan's custody and in exchange would seek the release of Dr Shakil Afridi. However, Dr Mazari felt that there are serious issues over the US attaching two conditionality for "releasing" Dr Aafia to Pakistan: one, that Pakistan accept she is a terrorist and should complete her sentence imprisoned in Pakistan; and, two that her trial in the US be accepted as fair and justified.
Dr Mazari stated that such conditionality are unacceptable and she hoped the government would not accept any unilateral conditionalities being forced upon it by the US government which is under strong Congressional pressure to seek the release of Dr Afridi, a collaborator of the American government's illegal activities in Pakistan, whom the US Congress wants to welcome as an American hero. Dr Mazari said if the prisoner swap agreement is to be an acceptable one it should be unconditional. If the US is demanding conditionalities then there must be mutual conditionalities in terms of serving prison terms and labelling of swapped prisoners as "terrorists" or "traitors".
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