A court in Islamabad has ruled that criminal charges should be brought against a former CIA station chief and a CIA lawyer over a U.S. drone program targeting suspected militants in Pakistan.
The Islamabad High Court issued the order on April 7 in response to a petition by Pakistani man Karim Khan, whose son and brother were killed in a purported U.S. drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal area in 2009.
The judge ordered former general counsel John A. Rizzo and ex-station chief Jonathan Bank face charges including murder, conspiracy, waging war against Pakistan, and terrorism.
Bank fled Pakistan in 2010 after his cover was blown when Khan initially threatened to sue the CIA and others for $500 million over the deaths. Bank now lives in the United States.
Rizzo was the CIA's acting general counsel overseeing its drone program. He later left the agency.
