Washington, July 13: In the months before Osama bin Laden was killed, the Central Intelligence Agency ran a phony vaccination programme in Abbottabad, Pakistan, as a ruse to obtain DNA evidence from members of Osama’s family thought to be holed up in a compound there, according to a US official.
The vaccination programme adds a new twist to the months of spy games that preceded the nighttime raid in early May that killed the Qaeda chief.
It has also aggravated already strained tensions between the US and Pakistan. The operation was run by a Pakistan doctor, Shakil Afridi, whom Pakistani spies have since arrested for his suspected collaboration with Americans. Dr Afridi remains in Pakistani custody, the US official said.
Getting DNA evidence from the people hiding in the Abbottabad compound would have been a significant coup, because it would have allowed the CIA to match the samples with DNA from other members of the Osama family that are on file at the CIA.
The US official said the doctor managed to gain access to the compound, but he never saw Osama and was not successful in getting DNA samples from any Osama family members.
–Agencies–