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| CIA will not use vaccination schemes for spying, says White House official | CIA will not use vaccination schemes for spying, says White House official |
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| A White House official has pledged that the CIA will no longer use vaccination programmes as cover for spying operations. The agency used the ruse in targeting Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. | A White House official has pledged that the CIA will no longer use vaccination programmes as cover for spying operations. The agency used the ruse in targeting Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. |
| Lisa Monaco, Barack Obama's leading counter-terrorism adviser, wrote to the deans of 13 prominent public health schools last week saying that the CIA had agreed it would no longer use vaccination programmes or workers for intelligence purposes. The agency also agreed not to use genetic materials obtained through such programmes. | |
| Dr Shakil Afridi offered a programme of hepatitis vaccinations in Abbottabad as cover for his CIA-backed effort to obtain DNA samples from children at a compound where Bin Laden was later killed during a 2011 raid by US navy Seals. | Dr Shakil Afridi offered a programme of hepatitis vaccinations in Abbottabad as cover for his CIA-backed effort to obtain DNA samples from children at a compound where Bin Laden was later killed during a 2011 raid by US navy Seals. |
| Afridi was convicted and sentenced by a Pakistani court to 33 years in prison for treason. The sentence was later overturned and Afridi faces a retrial. | Afridi was convicted and sentenced by a Pakistani court to 33 years in prison for treason. The sentence was later overturned and Afridi faces a retrial. |
| The health school deans were among a group of medical authorities who publicly criticised the CIA's use of the vaccination programme after it was disclosed by media accounts and Pakistan's arrest of Afridi as a CIA operative. | The health school deans were among a group of medical authorities who publicly criticised the CIA's use of the vaccination programme after it was disclosed by media accounts and Pakistan's arrest of Afridi as a CIA operative. |
| In her letter dated 16 May, Monaco said the US "strongly supports the global polio eradication initiative and efforts to end the spread of the polio virus forever". | |
| She said the CIA director, John Brennan, committed in August 2013 to "make no operational use of vaccination programmes, which includes vaccination workers". Monaco said the CIA policy "applied worldwide and to US and non-US persons alike," and that no DNA or genetic material would be used from such programmes. | She said the CIA director, John Brennan, committed in August 2013 to "make no operational use of vaccination programmes, which includes vaccination workers". Monaco said the CIA policy "applied worldwide and to US and non-US persons alike," and that no DNA or genetic material would be used from such programmes. |
| The CIA spokesman Dean Boyd said Brennan "took seriously the concerns raised by the public health community, examined them closely and took decisive action". | |
| Monaco's letter and the CIA statement did not acknowledge any error in the decision to use the Pakistan vaccine programme as a spying cover. The letter was first disclosed in a report by Yahoo News. | Monaco's letter and the CIA statement did not acknowledge any error in the decision to use the Pakistan vaccine programme as a spying cover. The letter was first disclosed in a report by Yahoo News. |
| The public health deans warned last year that the CIA's use of a vaccination programme had played a role in the shootings of several health workers in Pakistan and could hamper anti-polio efforts. "Public health programmes should not be used as cover for covert operations," they said. | The public health deans warned last year that the CIA's use of a vaccination programme had played a role in the shootings of several health workers in Pakistan and could hamper anti-polio efforts. "Public health programmes should not be used as cover for covert operations," they said. |
| Last week, Pakistan's health ministry announced it would require all travellers leaving the country to first get a polio vaccination. The World Health Organisation has declared that polio's spread is an international public health emergency, and identified Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon as nations that have allowed polio to spread beyond their borders. | |
| Pakistan was the only country with reported endemic polio that saw a rise in new cases in 2012, the WHO reported. Pakistan accounted for more than a fifth of all polio cases identified around the world in 2013. | Pakistan was the only country with reported endemic polio that saw a rise in new cases in 2012, the WHO reported. Pakistan accounted for more than a fifth of all polio cases identified around the world in 2013. |
| The CIA's use of a polio vaccine programme to spy on Bin Laden's compound undercut Obama's high-profile speech to the Muslim world in 2009 in which he touted US efforts to slow the growth of polio in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. With Obama administration assurances, Muslim scholars in two international groups issued religious decrees urging parents to vaccinate their children. | The CIA's use of a polio vaccine programme to spy on Bin Laden's compound undercut Obama's high-profile speech to the Muslim world in 2009 in which he touted US efforts to slow the growth of polio in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. With Obama administration assurances, Muslim scholars in two international groups issued religious decrees urging parents to vaccinate their children. |