Lawyer for doctor in Bin Laden case quits over security

The lawyer for a doctor accused of helping the US find Osama Bin Laden has told the BBC that he has quit the case after receiving frequent death threats.

Lawyer Samiullah Afridi also cited US pressure on Pakistan for the release of
Dr Shakil Afridi as another reason for his decision.

 Dr Afridi is accused of using the cover of a door- to-door vaccination campaign to help the US find Bin Laden. Pakistan was not informed of the 2011 raid which killed the al-Qaeda leader.

Samiullah Afridi told the BBC that his life had been under threat since he took up the case two years ago. Mr Afridi - who is not related to Dr Afridi - said he had left the country at one point because of safety fears. He said that militants had now given him a deadline to choose the "right way", by which they meant to leave the case.

"I took the case on humanitarian grounds, but now I have to look for my own life, it is more important," he said. He also said US pressure on Pakistan to release the doctor was "inappropriate" and was hindering the case. In addition, he said Washington's continued refusal to release Dr Aafia Siddiqui - a US citizen of Pakistani origin jailed for alleged links to al-Qaeda - was also "creating hurdles".

Mr Afridi, one of four lawyers representing the doctor, said he had "no option" but to quit the case.