Crescent International
Raymond Davis, the CIA agent operating as a "security consultant" at the US Consulate in Lahore, will be set free, Crescent International has learned. Davis shot and killed two people riding a motorbike in Lahore on January 26 whom he accused of trying to rob him.
Lahore-Crescent-online
February 08, 2011 - 1400 DST
Raymond Davis, the CIA agent operating as a "security consultant" at the US Consulate in Lahore, will be set free, Crescent International has learned. Davis shot and killed two people riding a motorbike in Lahore on January 26 whom he accused of trying to rob him. Davis claimed he had just taken some cash from an ATM. One wonders why US "diplomats" need to withdraw cash from ATMs when US embassies and consulates carry millions of dollars in cash that they hand out to their agents in Pakistan?
After killing the two Pakistanis with a Glock gun (available only to a small group of people, Davis not being authorized to carry one in Pakistan), he then called the American consulate for help instead of contacting Pakistani police. When the Consulate vehicle arrived, it drove in the wrong direction on a one-way street, running over and killing a pedestrian.
Davis was captured by the people when he tried to escape from the crime scene and held until the police arrived. He was charged with the murder of two Pakistanis.
Initially, the US embassy said it was investigating Davis's status. The Pakistan Foreign Office said it did not issue a diplomatic visa to Davis. Later, a report in the secular Karachi daily, Dawn, confirmed that Davis had been issued a business visa. Most CIA agents enter Pakistan pretending to be "businessmen."
Since the January 26 murders, the US embassy in Islamabad and American officials in Washington have become more strident in their demands saying Davis was covered by the Vienna Convention that provided protection to diplomats. But Davis does not have diplomatic status, according to copy of the visa in his passport, as reproduced in Dawn newspaper.
Davis remained in police custody for about a week under a Lahore High Court order but Crescent International has learned from a reliable source within the Interior Ministry that he will be whisked out of the country without charge or trial. A hint to this effect was given by Interior Minister Rahman Malik when he said Davis had "diplomatic" status. Such status is granted only by the Foreign Office.
In a report datelined Washington DC on February 8, Dawn's correspondent said that the US is exerting pressure from different directions to press for Davis's release. There have been hints that President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to the US next month has been put on hold, the Strategic dialogue between the two countries has been suspended and US aid to Pakistan may be in jeopardy.
Why the US is so concerned about protecting one individual that it is prepared to jeopardise relations with Pakistan unless he is a very important person, such as a high value CIA agent? Equally, Pakistani officials, bereft of any self-respect and dignity, can be relied upon to bend over backwards, break every law in Pakistan and deliver Raymond Davis, a self-confessed murderer, to the Americans without facing due process.
Pakistani lives mean nothing; only American lives are precious.
END
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