Still looking both ways - Telegraph For several years before his death, Osama bin Laden took refuge in Abbottabad, a Pakistani army garrison town. It was always fanciful to believe that no one in the country's military or intelligence service was aware of the al-Qaeda leader's presence there. But when American special forces eventually tracked him down, the Pakistani government was adamant that it had not harboured the world's most wanted man. President Asif Ali Zardari pointed out that no country had suffered more than Pakistan at the hands of terrorists. All the more reason, then, that those who help bring them to book should be applauded for their courage and patriotism. Yet a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, accused of helping the CIA find bin Laden, has been jailed for 33 years on charges of treason. He was tried under the Frontier Crimes Regulation, which dates from the time of the Raj. There was no judge and the entire process was conducted by a local government official. By contrast, no one has even been arrested, let alone prosecuted, for shielding bin Laden. Perhaps the Americans should have done more to protect Dr Afridi; but they are right to be outraged by his treatment. It makes it harder to take seriously Pakistan's denial that bin Laden was not given some semi-official protection during his time in Abbottabad. US-Pakistan relations, which are already in a deep freeze because of drone strikes and a row over Afghan supply lines, will worsen significantly, which cannot be to anyone's advantage. Worst of all, Dr Afridi's fate will discourage others who might have been willing to help bring terrorists to justice. Two years ago, David Cameron warned Pakistan that it could not "look both ways" when it came to dealing with terrorism. Depressingly, that is a message it does not seem to have taken on board.