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Anti-U.S. Sentiment Spreads to Pakistan's Doctors over Top Surgeon's Arrest
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Dr.Yasmin Rasheed (R), president of the Pakistan Medical Association
(PMA)
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ISLAMABAD, October 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pakistani doctors and other professionals took to the streets Friday, October 25, to protest the four-day detention of a top surgeon by U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agents over alleged links to al-Qaeda, news agencies reported.
United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and Pakistani military intelligence agents picked up Amir Aziz, a widely-respected orthopedic surgeon, in the eastern city of Lahore Monday, October 21, on suspicion of financing and treating al-Qaeda fugitives.
His detention has seen Pakistan's professional classes take up the anti-U.S. slogans normally associated with Islamic groups.
Pakistani Islamic parties won huge gains in elections this month on resentment to the military campaign in Afghanistan and the presence of U.S. soldiers and intelligence agents on Pakistani soil.
Around 300 doctors and engineers marched in the capital Islamabad waving placards inscribed with slogans such as "Pakistanis are not safe in Pakistan" and "FBI Get Out of Pakistan", reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Protestors in Islamabad demanded Aziz's immediate release, as a group of doctors in Lahore gathered on a main road to stage a three-hour "hunger strike" in protest against the surgeon's detention.
"We cannot allow a third country to dictate terms to us. This is putting the country's sovereignty in danger," said Doctor Yasmin Rashid, the head of the Pakistani Medical Association (PMA).
Intelligence officials, requesting anonymity, told AFP that Aziz was still being questioned in a secret location.
Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said Aziz may be officially arrested after his interrogation, which could be over by the weekend.
"If there is anything against him that comes out of this interrogation then certainly we will consider seeking arrest orders against him according to the law," Haider told AFP.
The Minister said intelligence agencies sought Aziz because his name had been mentioned by Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
"There was an oblique reference to Dr. Amir Aziz during interrogations in Guantanamo Bay.
"He was invited by one of our agencies to clarify the situation."
Haider insisted that Aziz "voluntarily" agreed to assist investigators' inquiries.
He ruled out handing Aziz over to the U.S., where all al-Qaeda suspects nabbed in Pakistan so far have been transferred.
Intelligence officials said Aziz was believed to have treated Osama bin Laden two years ago.
Doctors are outraged that Aziz's alleged treatment of al-Qaeda or bin Laden could have landed him in trouble.
"Even if he had treated Osama bin Laden, he did so in his capacity as a doctor. How can you stop a doctor from treating even an enemy's soldiers?" asked the PMA's Rashid.
"Treating injured people is not a crime and that is what Dr. Aziz has done. He was acting purely as a professional dedicated to relieve human suffering and save lives."
The Pakistani Professionals Forum and the PMA have called the surgeon's alleged links with al-Qaeda "baseless charges".
The FBI has been helping Pakistani investigators track down al-Qaeda fugitives since early this year, though they have never officially confirmed the presence of agents in Pakistan.
At least 422 al-Qaeda suspects have been nabbed on Pakistani soil and handed over to the United States since the U.S.-led bombing campaign began in Afghanistan in October last year.
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