Amer Aziz

Amer Aziz
Born pakistan
Arrested 2002-10-21
CIA
Citizenship Pakistani
Charge(s) extrajudicial detention

Amer Aziz is a physician who is based in Lahore.[1][2][3][4] He earned his medical degree in the United Kingdom and, according to the Washington Times, he is a British citizen.[1][5] In 2002 the Associated Press profiled Aziz when it became known that he had treated Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders. The Associated Press described Aziz as "a prominent Pakistani physician". The Los Angeles Times called him "Pakistan's foremost orthopedic surgeon".[2]

The New York Post asserted that Aziz was radicalized when he traveled to Kosovo during its war of independence from Yugoslavia to treat wounded Muslim Yugoslavians.[4]

Aziz was seized by American security officials on October 21, 2002, and held and interrogated by officers of both the FBI and the CIA.[1]

Aziz refuted the speculation that bin Laden was suffering from Kidney disease, or some other serious disease.[1] He asserted that the two times he examined bin Laden, in 1999 and November 2001.

Aziz had been paying visits to Afghanistan, to treat mujahideen since the war to oust Afghanistan's Soviet invaders in 1989.[1]

In 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported that Aziz travelled to perform emergency medical work when remote Pakistan controlled Kashmir was hit by an earthquake that killed 86,000.[2] They reported on tensions with US forces who were also providing emergency service, due to his known past association with Islamists. His field hospital was in a camp run by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa—a group associated with Lashkar e taiba.

On April 25, 2011, the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret documents signed by the Guantanamo camp commandants. One brief recorded that one captive, Ayman Batarfi, was a young doctor who had interned under Aziz in 2000.[6] The document quotes Aziz, and records several suspicions American intelligence officials held about Aziz. American officials suspected Aziz had been involved in an al Qaeda's plans to develop biological and chemical weapons.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Paul Haven (2002-11-20). "Bin Laden was in excellent health, doctor says". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2011-11-16. Amer Aziz, recently released after being held incommunicado and interrogated for a month by FBI and CIA agents, told the Associated Press that he knew nothing of al-Qaida's plans. He rejected allegations that he helped the organization in its efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.
  2. 1 2 3 John M. Glionna (2005-11-20). "'We Are Not Such Monsters'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-11-20. Aziz met Bin Laden for the second time in November 2001, two months after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. Aziz was in the process of establishing a surgical unit at the University of Jalalabad in Afghanistan to treat people injured during the U.S. bombing there. mirror
  3. ↑ "Doctor says bin Laden is healthy: Well-known Pakistani physician told agents, terrorist is strong". Lubbock online. 2002-11-28. Retrieved 2011-11-20. Aziz said that when he went to Afghanistan last November to set up a surgical unit at the University of Jalalabad, near the border with Pakistan, he had no idea that he was going to meet bin Laden. 'I was stunned,' he said. 'I thought, "This is the most wanted man in the world." But he seemed so calm.' mirror
  4. 1 2 Niles Latham (2002-11-15). "Agents snag bin Laden's doctor". New York Post. p. 2. Retrieved 2011-11-17. Amer Aziz, a popular figure who became radicalized when he went to Kosovo to treat wounded Albanian Muslims, once treated senior Taliban and al Qaeda figures and wounded fighters during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. U.S. officials say they do not believe Aziz has been in recent contact with the al Qaeda leader, but hope he can provide important insight into bin Laden's health.
  5. ↑ Richard Miniter (2006-01-03). "Osama debunks a myth". Washington Times. Retrieved 2012-06-07. Dr. Amer Aziz, a British citizen born in Pakistan, was interrogated by eight CIA and FBI agents, as well as by Pakistani intelligence officers. Strongly sympathetic to radical Islam, Aziz had treated bin Laden for years mirror
  6. ↑ Mark H. Buzby (2008-04-28). "Recommendation for Continued Detention Under DoD Control (CD) for Guantanamo Detainee, ISN US9YM-000627DP (S)" (PDF). Joint Task Force Guantanamo. Retrieved 2011-11-17. Media related to File:ISN 00627, Ayman Batarfi's Guantanamo detainee assessment.pdf at Wikimedia Commons
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