The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has condemned the release of Central Intelligence Agency contractor Raymond Davis under a "blood money" deal with relatives of two men he killed and threatened to target all those who aided the US in securing his acquittal in court.
The United States has ramped up pressure on Pakistan over the issue of an American arrested for gunning down two men in Lahore, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sending a message to President Asif Ali Zardari seeking his release, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
Raymond Davis's release followed secret talks between the ISI and CIA held under the aegis of the Saudi intelligence, says B Raman
American official Raymond Davis, arrested for double murder, had "close links" with Taliban and was "instrumental" in recruiting youths for it, the media in Pakistan claimed on Tuesday, close on the heels of reports in the United States that he was a Central Intelligence Agency agent tracking movements of terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
United States national Raymond Davis, an alleged Central Intelligence Agency contractor who was arrested for gunning down two men in Lahore, on Friday insisted he acted in self defence and had diplomatic immunity during a hearing into murder charges against him at a Pakistani court, which adjourned the trial till March 3.
United States official Raymond Davis, arrested after he shot and killed two Pakistani men he claimed were trying to rob him, was on Friday remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by a local court in Lahore.
Amid deepening diplomatic stand-off, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked Pakistan to follow the Vienna Convention and release American diplomat Raymond Davis, who is facing trial on murder charges.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said Davis was charged with murder on Wednesday but then immediately pardoned by the families of the victims in exchange for compensation or "blood money", as is permitted under Pakistani law.
Davis, whose arrest had sparked diplomatic tensions between the US and Pakistan, was released after paying a blood money of $2.3 million to the families of the victims, whom he shot dead on a road in Lahore in January.
American official Raymond Davis, arrested for killing two Pakistanis in Lahore, may have headed a covert Central Intelligence Agency team that was tasked to secretly gather intelligence on the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which the United States feels is getting out of the shadows of the Pakistan army to launch a campaign of jihad against it and Europe.
According to Mr Babar, within four days of this interview the Mumbai terror attack was underway, bringing the two countries closest to war in years -- 'The warmongers shattered Zardari's dream of peace with India'.
Annoyed over the case of its arrested national Raymond Davis, the United States has once again resumed drone strikes in the tribal belt of Pakistan.
Senior analyst B Raman gauges the pros and cons of the Raymond Davis case which is on the verge of denting American ties with Pakistan.
Experts have warned that the Raymond Davis case could affect the flow of billions of dollars of economic and military aid to Pakistan and complicate the United States-led war on terror in Afghanistan
Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved an extension to lieutenant general ahmad shuja Pasha as director general of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence for a period of one year.The decision to retain general Pasha in uniform and as ISI DG was taken because of his commendable role in the ongoing war against terrorism, The News quoted a well-placed defence source, as saying.
A resolution introduced in the United States House of Representatives seeks to freeze American aid to Pakistan, until its diplomat Raymond Davis, facing murder charges in a Lahore court is released.
The United States has asked Pakistan to honour the diplomatic immunity to American citizen Raymond Davis, who was arrested for killing two people in Lahore, and release him under the Vienna Convention.
ISI sources have confirmed that Davis, who is currently under detention in Lahore, had links to the CIA, and said that the conduct of the US intelligence agency around the incident has 'virtually thrown the partnership into question'.
In a setback to the United States' efforts to seek early release of its national Raymond Davis, who was arrested for double murder, a Pakistani court on Thursday rejected his claim that he has diplomatic immunity and said it would go ahead with his trial. During the last hearing of the case, 37-year-old Davis, a suspected Central Intelligence Agency contractor, had filed an application in which he insisted that he had immunity.
At least 30 suspected covert US operatives have suspended their activities in Pakistan and 12 have left the country following the arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis late last month, according to a media report.
After weeks of tense standoff, the United States and Pakistan may be nearing an arrangement to repatriate US official Raymond Davis with the government expected to concede in court that the American qualifies for diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention. The government's counsel is expected to testify on Davis's diplomatic status when the Lahore high court reconvenes on Thursday.
The White House has welcomed the release of American Central Intelligence Agency contractor Raymond Davis, arrested by Pakistani authorities after he shot and killed two men in Lahore in January. His release ended one of the most serious diplomatic stand-offs between Islamabad and Washington in nine years of partnering in the fight against terrorism.
Pakistan's foreign ministry has sought more time from the Lahore high court to file its reply on the immunity status of double murder-accused American official Raymond Davis. The LHC began the hearing on Thursday to decide whether Davis possesses diplomatic immunity in a case that has frayed ties between the United States and Pakistan. Chief Justice LHC Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry said that the Pakistan government had to decide whether Davis was a diplomat.
Outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed demanded "stern punishment" according to Pakistan's constitution for US official Raymond Davis, arrested for shooting and killing two men.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl has blamed the Raymond Davis network for the two suicide attacks on party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and said the murder attempts were a reaction to Fazl's stand taken on the Davis detention issue and drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal region.
A Pakistani court adjourned till March 16 a case against suspected CIA contractor Raymond Davis, arrested for gunning down two men in January, after defence lawyers sought more time to study documents filed by the prosecution.
The US has put tons of pressure on Pakistan to release Raymond Davis under the cover of diplomatic immunity but it is difficult for the president Asif Ali Zardari to solve the case in a way acceptable both to the American and Pakistani masses. While Zardari cannot put aside Obama's request but at the same time an Egypt-like situation could occur in Pakistan if Davis is released.
The newspaper said that on February 8, the State Department spokesman P J Crowley, had contacted the paper's executive editor, Bill Keller, asking him not to speculate charges in the Pakistani press.
The tussle between the US and Pakistan over the fate of a jailed diplomat intensified as he was formally charged with murder even as Washington said it would plead before the jury that the official had diplomatic immunity. Rejecting Raymond Davis' claim that he shot two men in self-defence, the prosecution filed a 'challan' (chargesheet) in the court of a district and sessions judge, formally charging him with murder of two Pakistanis in Lahore.
In what could come as a setback to American efforts to seek early release of arrested Central Intelligence Agency contractor Raymond Davis, a Pakistani court on Monday declined to rule on his diplomatic status and moved the matter to a lower court which is already conducting his trial on murder charges. 36-year-old Davis was arrested in Lahore on January 27 after he shot and killed two armed men he claimed were trying to rob him.
The Taliban on Monday warned the Pakistan government not to release American national Raymond Davis, who allegedly shot dead two men in Lahore in January, saying any official involved in a move to free him would be killed by militants. "Any Pakistani government official playing any role in Davis' release will be killed by the Taliban," said Azam Tariq, spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. The Taliban have also demanded that Davis should be executed by the authorities.
The widow of one of the Pakistani men shot dead by CIA contractor Raymond Davis was on Monday murdered along with her mother in Lahore following a family dispute over the blood money and her desire to remarry, police officials said.
Ties between US and Pakistan intelligence agencies have hit an all time low due to standoff over the arrest of American official Raymond Davis on murder charge compromising critical counter-terrorism operations including drone strikes targeting top terror leaders.
The United States on Wednesday expressed its gratitude to the families of two Pakistani men gunned down by Central Intelligence Agency contractor Raymond Davis for pardoning him and said the Department of Justice was investigating the shooting incident.
The controversy over the killing of two Pakistanis by a United States consulate employee in Lahore took a new turn on Monday with a media report stating that the dead men were believed to be "intelligence operatives".
The case of Raymond Davis, the American held in Pakistan for double murder, would put any espionage thriller to shame. Rediff.com tries to answer some of the many questions about the curious case of Davis.
Pakistani authorities have agreed not to declare these US officials "persona non grata" if they voluntarily leave the country within a stipulated time, The Express Tribune quoted unnamed sources as saying.
The kind of blanket immunity Washington is pressing for (US official Raymond) Davis is not endorsed by the official record of the Foreign Ministry," said Qureshi, who declined to join Pakistan's new cabinet last week after he was not reallocated the foreign affairs portfolio.
Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) is warning that the situation on the sub-continent has turned "grave" as it appears that open warfare is about to break out between Pakistan and the United States, The European Union Times reports.
What unfolded on the streets of Cairo over the last few weeks could happen in Pakistan as well if the United States does not handle the Raymond Davis case more sensitively, warns senior analyst B Raman.
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