PESHAWAR: A court has ordered the authorities to reinstate 17 health workers sacked over CIA efforts to track down Osama bin Laden, officials said yesterday.
The order was made on Thursday in the northwestern town of Abbottabad, where Bin Laden was found and shot dead by US special forces in May 2011.
“We will formally reinstate them after receiving written orders,” Mohammad Qasim, Abbottabad district health officer said. The medics worked on a vaccination programme set up by the CIA to confirm that Bin Laden was living in the city.
Fifteen women health workers were dismissed in August 2011, and a woman doctor and an assistant coordinator were sacked in March 2012. Defence lawyer Sultan Ahmad Jamshed confirmed the order, which does not relate to surgeon Dr Shakeel Afridi, who was jailed for 33 years for treason.
AFP
