The US Senate has voted to withdraw $33m of aid from Pakistan after they jailed the doctor that helped the CIA locate Osama Bin Laden.
Dr Shakil Afridi was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison by a tribal court in Pakistan for his part in running a DNA collection scheme, which helped American intelligence forces confirm the presence of the Al Qaeda leader.
On Thursday the US Senate voted on an amendment to a bill that proposed to withdraw $1m of aid from the country for every year of Dr Afridi's jail sentence.
Bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad by US forces in May 2011 after the intelligence, an operation that Pakistan felt both embarrassed and undermined by.
Not only had Pakistan been unwittingly sheltering the terrorist leader, having previously denied all knowledge of Bin Laden's location, US intervention was perceived by Pakistan as a slight on their ability to fight terrorism.
Although Pakistan is a valuable ally in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, Senator Lindsey Graham who introduced the amendment to the bill told press “We’re not going to be giving money to an ally that won’t be an ally,” reports The Express Tribune
Dr Afridi has been detained since January. He has also been ordered to pay $3,500 or face another three and half years behind bars.
There are concerns over the emotional and physical health of the Pakistani doctor. He was described as "weak, depressed and complaining of a bad stomach" by a senior health official and was placed under medical watch, reports AFP