this is a bizarre story, and hints that a private contractor in pakistan had been meeting with terrorists prior to his killing of two pakistani men. as for the u.s., embassy officials have been demanding the contractor’s release, citing “diplomatic immunity,” although he did not work as a diplomat. many news reports refer to the accused, “Raymond Davis” as a u.s. diplomat, despite the fact that he was an employee of hyperion corporation.
from zee news…
Lahore: The US Consular employee facing double murder charges in Pakistan reportedly had frequent
contacts with a faction of a banned militant outfit, possibly to get confidential information while working as an undercover spy, according to a newspaper report.
Credible sources close to the investigators said the undercover US national, codenamed Raymond Davis, and three other US officials had left a cafeteria after holding a ‘crucial’ meeting with the members of a terrorist outfit when the shooting incident took place near Mozang Crossing on last Thursday, The Nation reported.
“It was unclear why they (US officials) met the members of a terror outfit at a restaurant located in the Walled City, where a suicide bomber killed over a dozen people and injured many others few days before their visit,” a source was quoted, as saying.
According to initial investigations, the US nationals left the restaurant and were on their way to hold another confidential meeting at an undisclosed location, while the motorcyclists were chasing them, the report said.
Pakistan Refuses to Release U.S. Official Accused in Shooting
Pakistani officials said today they are refusing to release the American official, identified by the U.S. only as “a diplomat,” involved in a deadly shooting in Lahore, Pakistan, despite U.S. demands.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik echoed the position of several high level Pakistani officials when he told reporters Tuesday that the case against the American — identified by Pakistani officials, court documents and a source close to the man in custody as Raymond Davis — would go before a Pakistani court.
Lahore’s High Court asked the Pakistani government today to place Davis on the “exit control list,” which would bar him from leaving the country, an official told ABC News.
Without identifying Davis, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, issued a call for the release of “a U.S. diplomat unlawfully detained” over the weekend, stating he was working for the U.S. government in Islamabad in a diplomatic capacity and was carrying a diplomatic passport when he fought off two would-be robbers last week.
A source close to Davis said he works as a “technical adviser.” His military record shows experience in the U.S. Special Forces and, according to public documents, he currently owns Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, which provides clients with “loss and risk management professionals.”
The two men were killed in the shooting as well as another man who was reportedly struck by a vehicle that was racing to Davis’ aid. In addition to not identifying the American official, the State Department has declined to say precisely in what capacity he was working for the government — beyond as a diplomat — or why he was apparently armed at the time of the incident.
see the full article, from abc news…
Raymond Davis incident: What sort of diplomat carries a loaded gun?
As usual in Pakistan, much of the detail is murky, shrouded in layers of intrigue and conspiracy theory. But here’s what we know…
Davis was arrested last Thursday. He was driving a Honda Civic alone through Lahore when two men pulled alongside him on a motorbike at traffic lights. According to the US embassy in Islamabad, he saw that one of them had a gun. Apparently fearing that he was about to be robbed, he opened fire, killing both. When US officials arrived to rescue him from a growing mob, they ran over a bystander, resulting in a third death. (I think we can assume that the driver of the second vehicle is no longer in Pakistan.)
Davis remains in custody, while Pakistan is refusing requests to release him on the ground of diplomatic immunity.
see the rest of the article, from the telegraph…
US still hides identity of accused official, admits non-diplomatic status
From Sandra Johnson
WASHINGTON–The United States has once refused to give the real identity of Raymond Davis, the man who killed two Pakistanis in Lahore and says Washington is discussing with Islamabad about official visa on his passport rather than diplomatic visa.
“I’m not at liberty to talk about his identity yet” state department spokesman P J Crowley said when asked at a briefing on Monday if he can confirm his name as there was confusion over that.
rowley said Raymond cannot be arrested or detained in accordance with the Vienna Convention and the US has called for his immediate release. He insisted that the man is a member of the Embassy’s technical administrative staff and therefore entitled to full criminal immunity.
To a question, the state department spokesman said in US view, he acted in self defense when confronted by two armed men on motorcycles. He had every reason to believe that the armed men meant him bodily harm. And minutes earlier, the two men, who had criminal backgrounds, had robbed money and valuables at gunpoint from a Pakistani citizen in the same area, Crowley remarked.
To a question if embassy staff can carry weapons, the spokesman avoided a direct answer and said when Raymond wasdetained, he identified himself to police as a diplomat and repeatedly requested immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
When his attention was drawn that the picture of his visa shows that he has an official visa and not a diplomatic visa and that could be a reason for him not to receive diplomatic immunity, Crowley said this matter is still being discussed with Government of Pakistan. He confirmed that the person is in custody in Pakistan.
this article is from the daily mail…
notice that no terrorist group is actually named in the first article excerpted above. that could be an act of self-preservation on the part of the reporter.