Opposition in the Senate Tuesday demanded that an in-camera session of the House be briefed on the alleged jailbreak plan made by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to free Dr Shakeel Afridi, who helped the US track down Osama bin Laden in 2011. The matter was raised by Senator Raza Rabbani on a point of order who inquired from Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani about the possible reply from Foreign Office and Interior Ministry following the opposition parties staged a walkout from the House on Monday last against the government's failure to brief the House on the incident.
Sanjrani responded that a response has been received at his office and invited Rabbani to his chamber, saying that the report on the matter could not be discussed in the House due to "sensitivity". Rabbani, however, stated that the secretary foreign affairs and Ministry of Interior should have taken the chairman into confidence to discuss the report in an in-camera session.
"Let me make one thing very clear if anything happens to Shakeel Afridi, the foreign secretary and secretary interior should be treated as collaborators and abettors," he said, adding that the two have decided to withhold information from the Parliament. The chair, however, stated that he would make arrangements to brief the senators on the report in the current session.
Leader of the Opposition Sherry Rehman also endorsed Rabbani to demand an in-camera briefing to the House on the matter of Shakeel Afridi. She urged the chair to take the House into confidence, as the matter is extremely important. Mushtaq Ahmad of Jamaat-e-Islami said that it was not an appropriate response by the Foreign Office and Interior Ministry, adding that thousands of people have been given to the US in the past.
Referring to killing of a Pakistani citizen in a traffic accident which involves the US Embassy military attaché, he said: "Is this the hunting place for Americans who use to come and kill our citizens?" he asked, adding that Justice Javed Iqbal (Retd), head of the Missing Persons Commission, has revealed that 4,000 Pakistanis were handed over to the US in the past.
Senator Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini of Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) also stated that in-camera briefing should be given to the House on the matter, adding that the matter is important and must be discussed. Earlier, Rabbani pointed out that as per the tentative calendar issued by the Senate Secretariat, the next session is scheduled to be convened on July 10. He said that the House needs to be in session when the caretaker setup is placed to keep a check on the interim government as well as on the general elections.
"As the National Assembly is scheduled to be dissolved on May 31 and it is necessary that Senate is in session to keep a check on the caretaker government so that it does not exceed its constitutional limits," he added.