The Pakistani doctor who helped the United States hunt for Osama bin Laden was convicted Wednesday of high treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program that allowed the CIA to collect DNA samples and verify bin Laden's presence in the town of Abbottabad, where U.S. Navy SEALs eventual killed the al Qaeda leader.

"He was working for a foreign spy agency. We are looking after our national interests," claimed a Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the agency's policy.

"Anyone who supported the United States in finding Osama bin Laden was not working against Pakistan. They were working against al Qaeda," Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in response to the sentencing.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other officials have called for Afridi to be released.

He has two months to appeal the decision.