US to use carrot and stick policy to release Dr Shakil Afridi

The United States Congress has persuaded Islamabad to release Dr. Shakil Afridi who assisted US efforts in tracking down Osama bin Laden .

Dr.Afridi is now serving a 23-year prison term in Pakistan and is considered a hero in the United States.

The Dawn reports that a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers were working on a new measure to use aid cuts to get Dr. Afridi out of prison.

In January 2014, President Barack Obama signed a bill that proposed to withhold 33 million dollars from assistance to Pakistan over Dr. Afridi's detention.

Congress has been holding 33 million dollars from its assistance to Pakistan every year since the restriction was first placed.

The Dawn reports that this year the US lawmakers want a more substantial cut to force Pakistan to release Dr. Afridi.

Congressman Matt Salmon, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, also supported the suggestion saying that Pakistan needed to know that its treatment of Dr. Afridi 'is the single biggest impediment to members' wanting to support the country.

Another lawmaker, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said it made 'little sense to continue to give Pakistan billions of dollars if it's going to continue to work against our interests'.

American lawmakers added that they did not understand why the administration was wasting US taxpayers' money on a country, which often worked against US interests.