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April 25, 2012

U.S. Grants Visa to Pakistani Lawyer for Drone Victims 
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The State Department has dropped its effort to stop a Pakistani lawyer
who represents victims of CIA drone strikes from entering the United
States. Shahzad Akbar is scheduled to speak later this month at an
International Drone Summit in Washington, D.C. His trip had remained in
limbo after the U.S. government failed to grant him a visa. While he has
traveled to the United States in the past, he had not been granted
permission to return since becoming an outspoken critic of the drone
strikes and filing the first case in Pakistan on behalf of the families
of civilian victims. But on Tuesday, after months of public protest, the
State Department backed down and granted Akbar a travel visa. In a
statement, Akbar said: "I will be speaking to American people about the
loss of so many innocent Pakistani lives in their name. I believe the
American people are good people and will want to do something to stop
this unjust, counterproductive war."

 

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