Raymond Allen Davis incident
Encyclopedia
Raymond Allen Davis is a former United States Army
soldier, private security firm
employee, and contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA). On January 27, 2011, Davis killed two reportedly armed men in Lahore
, Pakistan. Although the U.S. government
contended that he was protected by diplomatic immunity
because of his employment with the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Davis was jailed and criminally charged
by Pakistani authorities with double murder and the illegal possession of a firearm. A third Pakistani man was also killed "in a hit and run" when a car sped down the wrong side of the road on its way to aid Davis.
On March 16, 2011, Davis was released after the families of the two killed men were paid $2.4 million in diyya
(a form of monetary compensation or blood money). Judges then acquitted him on all charges and Davis immediately departed Pakistan.
The incident led to a diplomatic furor and deterioration in Pakistan – United States relations
. A major focus of the incident was the U.S.'s assertion that Davis was protected under the principle of diplomatic immunity due to his role as an "administrative and technical official" attached to the Lahore consulate. The U.S. government claimed that Davis was protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
and demanded he be released from custody immediately. President
Barack Obama
asked Pakistan not to prosecute Davis and recognize him as a diplomat, stating, "There's a broader principle at stake that I think we have to uphold." The Pakistani officials disputed the claim of immunity from a murder charge, asserting that Davis was involved in clandestine operations, and questioned the scope of his activities in Pakistan. The Pakistani Foreign Office stated that "this matter is sub judice
in a court of law and the legal process should be respected." Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi
stated that, according to official records and experts in the Foreign Office, Davis was "not a diplomat and cannot be given blanket diplomatic immunity"; Qureshi's stand on the issue allegedly led to him losing the Foreign Affairs ministerial post.
The incident led to widespread protests in Pakistan demanding action against Davis.
Almost a month after the incident, U.S. officials revealed Davis was a contractor for the CIA after it was reported in the The Guardian
. According to The Telegraph
, he was acting head of the CIA in Pakistan.
An unnamed official with the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) stated that Davis had contacts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
along the Afghanistan border and knew both the men he shot. He said the ISI is investigating the possibility that the encounter on the streets of Lahore stemmed from a meeting or from threats to Davis. Some media outlets have suggested, according to anonymous sources, that data retrieved from Davis' phones and GPS device had been to Islamabad
, Lahore, Peshawar
and some tribal areas of the country, areas that have been the subject of U.S. drone attacks
. These attacks were interrupted for several weeks after Davis' arrest before resuming on March 18, 2011 in an attack at Datta Khel
.
, he was driving alone in his white Honda Civic
and had stopped at a traffic light
near Qurtaba Chowk in the Mozang Chungi
area of Lahore when two men pulled alongside him on a motorbike. After one of the young men allegedly brandished a pistol, Davis opened fire and killed both of them with his own 9mm Glock pistol
.
The two men were identified as Faizan Haider, 22 years old and Faheem Shamshad (also known as Muhammad Faheem), 26 year old. Davis told police that he acted in self-defence. The police were unable to find any eye witnesses to support Davis' contention that the deceased men brandished a weapon. Police confirmed that Faheem was carrying a pistol at the time of the shooting. According to the investigative officers, when Davis fired at Faizan and Faheem, they were sitting on their bike in front of his car with their backs towards Davis. Davis shot them through his windshield. After the shooting, Davis is alleged to have exited his car to take pictures and videos of the casualties with his cell phone. There are additional reports that Davis shot five rounds through his windshield, got out of his vehicle and shot four more rounds into the two men as they lay on the pavement. The police report says that witnesses saw Davis fire at Faizan Haider at a time when he left the motorcycle and ran to save his life. Davis himself also admitted that he fired at Haider from the back when he was running.
Davis then radioed for backup. Minutes later, four men in a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
with fake registration plates made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the scene. Stopped in a traffic jam
, the driver of the Prado jumped the median
on Jail Road, traveled against the oncoming traffic. The Prado collided with a motorcyclist unconnected to the initial incident, later identified as Ebadur Rehman (also transliterated Ibad-ur-Rehman). Faizan Haider died at the scene, while both Faheem Shamshad and Ibad-ur-Rehman were taken to Services Hospital, Lahore and subsequently also died. Security camera
footage of the damaged vehicle after its fatal collision with Rehman were later shown on Pakistani Geo TV
. Pakistani officials believed the vehicle's occupants were also employed by the CIA, as they came from the same suburban house where Davis lived. The U.S. later refused Pakistani demands to interrogate the men and they later left the country. It was reported that the men were U.S. citizens and had the same diplomatic visa as Davis.
After the accident, the vehicle fled the scene
and proceeded without stopping to the U.S. Consulate, jettisoning items outside Faletti's Hotel. Police say they included four magazines containing 100 bullets, various battery cells, a baton, scissors, a pair of gloves, a compass with knife, a black coloured mask/blindfold, and a piece of cloth bearing the American flag. Davis also attempted to leave the scene in his vehicle, but he was apprehended by two traffic warden
s at Old Anarkali Food Street in Anarkali Bazaar
and handed over to police.
According to news sources, items recovered from Davis' car included a unlicensed Glock handgun, an infrared
light, a portable telescope, GPS
equipment, two cellphones, a satellite phone, buckets of bullets for both for Glock and Beretta
handguns, multiple ATM and military ID cards, and a camera containing pictures of "prohibited areas such as installations along the border with India
". Pakistani media have also reported that Davis also carried multiple ATM and military ID cards and what was described as a facial disguise or makeup. The Pakistani official said Davis also carried identification cards from the U.S. consulates in Lahore and Peshawar but not from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.
s but that no shots were fired from these weapons. It is disputed whether the firearms were licensed or not. A senior police officer has said that Haider had a criminal record and was previously involved in dacoity
, but neighbors, friends and family of the young men stated that they had no criminal records or history of illegal activity.
The police officer in charge of the investigation, Zulfiqar Hameed, was initially reported as having said that eyewitness testimony suggested that the men were trying to rob Davis. Later press statements from the Lahore Police Chief, Aslam Tareen, explain that police rejected Davis' plea of self-defence precisely because of eyewitness statements. Tareen, describing the shooting as "a clear-cut murder," explained that the self-defence plea "had been considered but the eyewitnesses, the other witnesses and the forensic reports, ...showed that it was not a case of self-defence."
The Toyota Prado that killed Rehman had the fake number plates LZN-6970. Investigations have revealed that the car number was actually registered in the name of Sufi Munawwar Hussain, a resident of Sahiwal district in Punjab province. Pakistani officials believe the vehicle's occupants were also CIA because they came from the same suburban house where Davis lived and were heavily armed. The US refused Pakistani demands to interrogate the two men and the men have left the country. ABC News reported that the men had the same diplomatic visa as Davis.
After the incident multiple Pakistani officials told ABC News
that both men Davis killed were working for Inter-Services Intelligence
and were following Davis because he was spying and had crossed a "red line". This was initially denied by US officials. The Express Tribune
also reported that the two dead motorcyclists were intelligence operatives, quoting a Pakistani security official who requested not to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media. Pakistani officials alleged that Davis had travelled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
and met with some people without the approval of ISI and therefore was being followed in an attempt to intimidate him. Davis alleged that the men he shot were trying to rob him but the police delayed registering cases against Haider and Shamshad.
claimed that Davis was a diplomat and should neither have been arrested nor should be prosecuted under Pakistani law because he had diplomatic immunity
under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
. The Punjab authorities (the province in which Davis was arrested) claimed that Davis was not on a diplomatic visa
but on an official business visa.
According to US officials cited in the New York Times, senior Pakistani officials "believed in private that Davis had diplomatic immunity but that the government was unwilling or unable to enforce the protocol".
A senior Pakistani official, Information Secretary of the PPP Fauzia Wahab
, was forced to resign her post after she made statements saying she believed Davis did have diplomatic immunity. Her comments were swiftly dismissed as personal views by a presidential spokesman, and a contempt of court
petition was filed against her in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
In two articles appearing in the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune
, the precise status of Davis' and the American Government's claim of immunity was examined by Najmuddin Shaikh, a former Pakistani diplomat. He wrote that the question of diplomatic immunity
depended on whether Davis was on the staff of the "consulate" or the "embassy" as the privileges and immunities of each are very different. Shaik wrote that if Davis was on the staff of the "embassy", the question of immunity would depend upon whether Davis was in Mozang Chowrangi in the "course of his duties" and questioned who should decide that.
Regarding the law concerning if Davis was on the "consular" staff, a practising lawyer in Islamabad, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, referred to the Vienna Convention of 1963 in The News International
, writing: “one needs to read Article 41 (1) which says: Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority. Now having read the law, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that if a member of US Consulate in Lahore kills someone, he is answerable to a court of law in that jurisdiction, as there is no other crime more heinous or more grave than murder." Pakistani investigators took the position that Davis did not shoot the two men acting in self-defence and the police recommended he face a charge of double murder.
Davis in the mobile phone video of his interrogation did not claim that he had a diplomatic rank, but rather that he was "doing consulting work for the Consul General, who is based at the US consulate in Lahore." In the video, Davis is heard and seen showing several ID badges around his neck, and states that one is from Islamabad, and one is from Lahore. He then adds, "I work as a consultant there".
According to USA Today
, "U.S. officials in Islamabad will say only that he was an American Embassy employee who was considered part of the 'administrative and technical staff'."
Ejaz Haider pointed to this difference, writing, "This has now been changed to this man being an employee of the US embassy. Why? Because, and this is important, there are two different Vienna Conventions, one on diplomatic relations (1961) and the other on consular relations (1963)."
and spent 10 years in the Army, being discharged
in 2003. Davis served in infantry
units. He received basic training
at Fort Benning
in Georgia
, served six months with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Macedonia in 1994, and later joined the Special Forces. Davis' final assignment with the Army was weapons sergeant
with the Fort Bragg, North Carolina
-based 3rd Special Forces Group
.
After his military service, Davis was the operator of "Hyperion Protective Services, LLC" a company organized as an LLC
. Varying reports indicate that the firm is based in either Nevada
or Orlando, Florida
. The company's website was taken down after the Davis incident, but before its removal the website described the firm as specializing in "loss and risk management
." According to the BBC, "the offices that the company says it had in Orlando have been vacant for several years and the numbers on its website are unlisted."
Davis was also a CIA contractor as an employee of Blackwater Worldwide
(now Xe).
, the headquarters of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Peshawar
and of the Pakistan Army’s bunkers on the Eastern border with India. The Government of Punjab considered Davis a security risk after the recovery of the photos. Prosecutors also suggested that Davis be charged with espionage. In particular Davis main espionage activities were against Lashkar-e-Taiba
and Pakistan's nuclear facilities
.
On February 28, DawnNews reported that law enforcement agencies arrested 45 individuals in Pakistan for staying in constant contact with Davis. Other media reported at the same time that at least 30 suspected covert American operatives have suspended their activities in Pakistan and 12 have already left the country.
Many analysts believe Washington halted the CIA drone attacks
in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
, which had been occurring at the average rate of two to three per week since 2008, after Raymond Davis was arrested. There were no reported drone attacks from January 23, four days before the Raymond Davis incident, until February 21.
was cut off from all communications with the United States Department of State
over this issue. Diplomatic notes were sent by the US Government to Pakistan's Foreign Office urging it to grant diplomatic immunity to Davis. A delegation of the United States House Committee on Armed Services
conveyed a veiled threat that Pakistan-US defense cooperation could be under cloud if the standoff persisted on the issue of immunity for Davis.
In another incident, ABC News reported that two Pakistani officials claimed that the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani
, received threats from the U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon of being removed if action was not taken on the Davis case. Haqqani however categorically denied the allegation. According to the same report, Donilon also warned of US consulates closing down in Pakistan and an upcoming visit by Zardari to Washington being rejected.
It was also reported that top Pakistani Foreign Office officials alleged Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari
instructed the Foreign Office in categorical terms that Davis be given diplomatic immunity and for this purpose the Foreign Office should immediately issue a backdated letter notifying Davis as ‘member of staff member of the US embassy, in Islamabad. Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi refused, saying: “on the basis of the official record and the advice given to me by the technocrats and experts of the Foreign Office, I could not certify him (Raymond Davis) as a diplomat. The kind of by blanket immunity Washington is pressing for Davis, is not endorsed by the official record of the Foreign Ministry." Qureshi reiterated this stance after a meeting with Chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry
on February 16. Qureshi said he kept quiet on the Davis case earlier upon instructions from the leadership of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), but implied that his stance on the matter had cost him his job. As of February 16 a new foreign minister has not yet been appointed.
The Guardian
reported that a number of U.S. media outlets learned about Davis's CIA role but "kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration." Colorado television station KUSA (9NEWS) learned that Davis worked for the CIA speaking to Davis's wife, who referred inquiries to a Washington, D.C. number for the CIA. The station then "removed the CIA reference from its website at the request of the U.S. government."
On February 6, Shamshad's widow, Shumaila Kanwal, committed suicide with an overdose
of pills, fearing that Davis would be released without trial, police and doctors said.
(Islamic law) which allows murder charges to be dismissed if diyya
is paid to the deceased's families (if and only if, they agreed without any pressure), an arrangement which is legal and common in Pakistan. According to Al Jazeera
, the families' lawyer said that the families were forced to accept the deal.
A senior Pakistani official stated that between $1.4 and $3 million was paid to families of the deceased. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the U.S. government had not paid money for Davis to be released. Davis was also fined Rs
20,000 by the judge for possessing illegal firearms. An attorney representing the families said that the Pakistani government paid the diyat, but U.S. officials indicated that the U.S. government would reimburse Pakistani authorities. Asad Manzoor Butt, a lawyer who had been representing the deceased's relatives, told the media outside the jail that he had been detained for several hours by the prison administration and the heirs had been forced to sign the diyat papers.
After being released, Davis was flown to Bagram Airfield in Kabul aboard U.S. aircraft. He was accompanied on the flight by Cameron Munter
, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan
. A senior U.S. official told the Washington Post that Davis was flown there because U.S. wanted Davis out of Pakistan as soon as possible and "it was the closest place" and stated that Davis was in "good spirits." The Pakistani newspaper The News International
stated that Davis left Lahore at 4:53 p.m. aboard the Viper 18, a 12-seat Cessna
and claimed that there were "strong indications" that four family members of the Pakistani men (Imran Haider, brother of Faizan Haider, and Mohammad Waseem, brother of Mohammad Fahim, and two other family members) were on board the plane.
On October 1, 2011, Douglas County, Colorado
sheriff's deputies arrested Davis in Highlands Park, Colorado, at the Town Center in Highlands Ranch, for third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors, stemming from a dispute between Davis and 50-year-old Jeff Maes about a parking space. Maes and his family got to a parking spot first and parked in it. A witness told police that Davis then confronted Maes and said, "I was waiting for that spot and it wasn't right for you to take it." When Maes refused to move Davis struck Maes. The blow sent Maes to the ground. Davis was released on a $1,750 bail bond. When prosecutors later learned that Maes may have suffered a broken vertebra in the incident, they increased one of the charges against Davis to second-degree assault (a felony), a crime of violence that carries a five-year mandatory minimum, and Davis' bond was raised to $10,000. Neither Maes nor a third man present at the scene have been charged in the incident.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
soldier, private security firm
Private military company
A private military company or provides military and security services. These combatants are commonly known as mercenaries, though modern-day PMCs refer to their staff as security contractors, private military contractors or private security contractors, and refer to themselves as private military...
employee, and contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA). On January 27, 2011, Davis killed two reportedly armed men in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Pakistan. Although the U.S. government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
contended that he was protected by diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
because of his employment with the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Davis was jailed and criminally charged
Criminal charge
A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can take several forms, including:* complaint...
by Pakistani authorities with double murder and the illegal possession of a firearm. A third Pakistani man was also killed "in a hit and run" when a car sped down the wrong side of the road on its way to aid Davis.
On March 16, 2011, Davis was released after the families of the two killed men were paid $2.4 million in diyya
Diyya
Diyya is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic, the word means both blood money and ransom.-Islamic and Arab tradition:The Qur'an specifies the principle of Qisas Diyya (plural: Diyyat; ) is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic, the word means both blood money and...
(a form of monetary compensation or blood money). Judges then acquitted him on all charges and Davis immediately departed Pakistan.
The incident led to a diplomatic furor and deterioration in Pakistan – United States relations
Pakistan – United States relations
Pakistan – United States relations refers to the bilateral relationship between the Pakistan and the United States. The United States first established diplomatic relations with Pakistan on 20 October 1947. The relationship since then was based primarily on U.S. economic and military assistance to...
. A major focus of the incident was the U.S.'s assertion that Davis was protected under the principle of diplomatic immunity due to his role as an "administrative and technical official" attached to the Lahore consulate. The U.S. government claimed that Davis was protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. It specifies the privileges of a diplomatic mission that enable diplomats to perform their function without fear of coercion or...
and demanded he be released from custody immediately. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
asked Pakistan not to prosecute Davis and recognize him as a diplomat, stating, "There's a broader principle at stake that I think we have to uphold." The Pakistani officials disputed the claim of immunity from a murder charge, asserting that Davis was involved in clandestine operations, and questioned the scope of his activities in Pakistan. The Pakistani Foreign Office stated that "this matter is sub judice
Sub judice
In law, sub judice, Latin for "under judgment", means that a particular case or matter is currently under trial or being considered by a judge or court...
in a court of law and the legal process should be respected." Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi is well-known Politician in Pakistan. He was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government of PPP, Muttahida Quami Movement[MQM], ANP and JUI-F formed after the 2008 general elections. He was a senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, where...
stated that, according to official records and experts in the Foreign Office, Davis was "not a diplomat and cannot be given blanket diplomatic immunity"; Qureshi's stand on the issue allegedly led to him losing the Foreign Affairs ministerial post.
The incident led to widespread protests in Pakistan demanding action against Davis.
Almost a month after the incident, U.S. officials revealed Davis was a contractor for the CIA after it was reported in the The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. According to The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, he was acting head of the CIA in Pakistan.
An unnamed official with the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
(ISI) stated that Davis had contacts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
along the Afghanistan border and knew both the men he shot. He said the ISI is investigating the possibility that the encounter on the streets of Lahore stemmed from a meeting or from threats to Davis. Some media outlets have suggested, according to anonymous sources, that data retrieved from Davis' phones and GPS device had been to Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Lahore, Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
and some tribal areas of the country, areas that have been the subject of U.S. drone attacks
Drone attacks in Pakistan
The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, has made a series of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones . These attacks are part of the US' War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants...
. These attacks were interrupted for several weeks after Davis' arrest before resuming on March 18, 2011 in an attack at Datta Khel
Datta Khel airstrike
The Datta Khel airstrike was an American airstrike carried out on 17 March 2011 in Datta Khel, North Waziristan that killed 44 people and led to widespread condemnation in Pakistan...
.
Incident
Davis indicated in his written statement that the incident happened when he was coming from the Embassy, although the report from Pakistani police stated that the GPS record showed he was coming from his private residence at Scotch Corner, Upper Mall. Davis stated that after withdrawing cash from a bank cash machineAutomated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
, he was driving alone in his white Honda Civic
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic is a line of subcompact and subsequently compact cars made and manufactured by Honda. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded...
and had stopped at a traffic light
Traffic light
Traffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
near Qurtaba Chowk in the Mozang Chungi
Mozang Chungi
Mozang Chungi or Mozang is an area in Lahore, Pakistan. Nearby areas are Jail Road, Choubarji and famous Anarkali Bazar. It is located at 31°32'55N 74°18'54E. The area came under attention after the controversial Raymond Allen Davis incident took place here....
area of Lahore when two men pulled alongside him on a motorbike. After one of the young men allegedly brandished a pistol, Davis opened fire and killed both of them with his own 9mm Glock pistol
Glock pistol
The Glock pistol, sometimes referred to by the manufacturer as Glock "Safe Action" Pistol, is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The company's founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or...
.
The two men were identified as Faizan Haider, 22 years old and Faheem Shamshad (also known as Muhammad Faheem), 26 year old. Davis told police that he acted in self-defence. The police were unable to find any eye witnesses to support Davis' contention that the deceased men brandished a weapon. Police confirmed that Faheem was carrying a pistol at the time of the shooting. According to the investigative officers, when Davis fired at Faizan and Faheem, they were sitting on their bike in front of his car with their backs towards Davis. Davis shot them through his windshield. After the shooting, Davis is alleged to have exited his car to take pictures and videos of the casualties with his cell phone. There are additional reports that Davis shot five rounds through his windshield, got out of his vehicle and shot four more rounds into the two men as they lay on the pavement. The police report says that witnesses saw Davis fire at Faizan Haider at a time when he left the motorcycle and ran to save his life. Davis himself also admitted that he fired at Haider from the back when he was running.
Davis then radioed for backup. Minutes later, four men in a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado is a, mid-size four-wheel drive vehicle in the Toyota Land Cruiser range produced by the Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corporation. The Prado is one of the smaller vehicles in the range...
with fake registration plates made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the scene. Stopped in a traffic jam
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
, the driver of the Prado jumped the median
Central reservation
On divided roads, such as divided highways or freeways/motorways, the central reservation , median, parkway , median strip or central nature strip is the area which separates opposing lanes of traffic...
on Jail Road, traveled against the oncoming traffic. The Prado collided with a motorcyclist unconnected to the initial incident, later identified as Ebadur Rehman (also transliterated Ibad-ur-Rehman). Faizan Haider died at the scene, while both Faheem Shamshad and Ibad-ur-Rehman were taken to Services Hospital, Lahore and subsequently also died. Security camera
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
footage of the damaged vehicle after its fatal collision with Rehman were later shown on Pakistani Geo TV
Geo TV
Geo TV or Geo Television is a Pakistani television network, founded by Mr. Mir Shakil ur Rehman in May 2002 and owned by Independent Media Corporation. The channel began test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning 1 October 2002...
. Pakistani officials believed the vehicle's occupants were also employed by the CIA, as they came from the same suburban house where Davis lived. The U.S. later refused Pakistani demands to interrogate the men and they later left the country. It was reported that the men were U.S. citizens and had the same diplomatic visa as Davis.
After the accident, the vehicle fled the scene
Hit and run (vehicular)
Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
and proceeded without stopping to the U.S. Consulate, jettisoning items outside Faletti's Hotel. Police say they included four magazines containing 100 bullets, various battery cells, a baton, scissors, a pair of gloves, a compass with knife, a black coloured mask/blindfold, and a piece of cloth bearing the American flag. Davis also attempted to leave the scene in his vehicle, but he was apprehended by two traffic warden
Traffic warden
A traffic warden is a non-warranted officer employed by a statutory authority in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Ireland, to assist in regulating the flow of traffic.- Ireland :...
s at Old Anarkali Food Street in Anarkali Bazaar
Anarkali bazaar
Anarkali bazaar is a famous bazār in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is one of the oldest surviving markets in South Asia, dating back at least 200 years...
and handed over to police.
According to news sources, items recovered from Davis' car included a unlicensed Glock handgun, an infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
light, a portable telescope, GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
equipment, two cellphones, a satellite phone, buckets of bullets for both for Glock and Beretta
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the...
handguns, multiple ATM and military ID cards, and a camera containing pictures of "prohibited areas such as installations along the border with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
". Pakistani media have also reported that Davis also carried multiple ATM and military ID cards and what was described as a facial disguise or makeup. The Pakistani official said Davis also carried identification cards from the U.S. consulates in Lahore and Peshawar but not from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.
Investigation
Police stated that the two men that were shot by Davis were carrying sidearmSidearm
In baseball, sidearm describes balls thrown along a low, approximately horizontal axis rather than a high, mostly vertical axis ....
s but that no shots were fired from these weapons. It is disputed whether the firearms were licensed or not. A senior police officer has said that Haider had a criminal record and was previously involved in dacoity
Dacoity
Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in India. The spelling is the anglicized version of the Hindi word and as a colloquial Anglo-Indian word with this meaning, also appears in the Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases Banditry is criminal activity involving robbery by groups of...
, but neighbors, friends and family of the young men stated that they had no criminal records or history of illegal activity.
The police officer in charge of the investigation, Zulfiqar Hameed, was initially reported as having said that eyewitness testimony suggested that the men were trying to rob Davis. Later press statements from the Lahore Police Chief, Aslam Tareen, explain that police rejected Davis' plea of self-defence precisely because of eyewitness statements. Tareen, describing the shooting as "a clear-cut murder," explained that the self-defence plea "had been considered but the eyewitnesses, the other witnesses and the forensic reports, ...showed that it was not a case of self-defence."
The Toyota Prado that killed Rehman had the fake number plates LZN-6970. Investigations have revealed that the car number was actually registered in the name of Sufi Munawwar Hussain, a resident of Sahiwal district in Punjab province. Pakistani officials believe the vehicle's occupants were also CIA because they came from the same suburban house where Davis lived and were heavily armed. The US refused Pakistani demands to interrogate the two men and the men have left the country. ABC News reported that the men had the same diplomatic visa as Davis.
After the incident multiple Pakistani officials told ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
that both men Davis killed were working for Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
and were following Davis because he was spying and had crossed a "red line". This was initially denied by US officials. The Express Tribune
The Express Tribune
The Express Tribune is the first internationally affiliated newspaper in Pakistan, in partnership with The International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times....
also reported that the two dead motorcyclists were intelligence operatives, quoting a Pakistani security official who requested not to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media. Pakistani officials alleged that Davis had travelled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
and met with some people without the approval of ISI and therefore was being followed in an attempt to intimidate him. Davis alleged that the men he shot were trying to rob him but the police delayed registering cases against Haider and Shamshad.
Diplomatic status
The U.S. and Pakistani governments did not agree as to Davis' legal status in Pakistan at the time of his arrest. The US governmentFederal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
claimed that Davis was a diplomat and should neither have been arrested nor should be prosecuted under Pakistani law because he had diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. It specifies the privileges of a diplomatic mission that enable diplomats to perform their function without fear of coercion or...
. The Punjab authorities (the province in which Davis was arrested) claimed that Davis was not on a diplomatic visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
but on an official business visa.
According to US officials cited in the New York Times, senior Pakistani officials "believed in private that Davis had diplomatic immunity but that the government was unwilling or unable to enforce the protocol".
A senior Pakistani official, Information Secretary of the PPP Fauzia Wahab
Fauzia Wahab
Fauzia Wahab ) is a Pakistani politician in the Pakistan Peoples Party . She is a member of National Assembly from Sindh returned on a reserved seat for women after the February 18, 2008 general elections....
, was forced to resign her post after she made statements saying she believed Davis did have diplomatic immunity. Her comments were swiftly dismissed as personal views by a presidential spokesman, and a contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
petition was filed against her in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
In two articles appearing in the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune
The Express Tribune
The Express Tribune is the first internationally affiliated newspaper in Pakistan, in partnership with The International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times....
, the precise status of Davis' and the American Government's claim of immunity was examined by Najmuddin Shaikh, a former Pakistani diplomat. He wrote that the question of diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
depended on whether Davis was on the staff of the "consulate" or the "embassy" as the privileges and immunities of each are very different. Shaik wrote that if Davis was on the staff of the "embassy", the question of immunity would depend upon whether Davis was in Mozang Chowrangi in the "course of his duties" and questioned who should decide that.
Regarding the law concerning if Davis was on the "consular" staff, a practising lawyer in Islamabad, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, referred to the Vienna Convention of 1963 in The News International
The News International
The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...
, writing: “one needs to read Article 41 (1) which says: Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority. Now having read the law, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that if a member of US Consulate in Lahore kills someone, he is answerable to a court of law in that jurisdiction, as there is no other crime more heinous or more grave than murder." Pakistani investigators took the position that Davis did not shoot the two men acting in self-defence and the police recommended he face a charge of double murder.
Davis in the mobile phone video of his interrogation did not claim that he had a diplomatic rank, but rather that he was "doing consulting work for the Consul General, who is based at the US consulate in Lahore." In the video, Davis is heard and seen showing several ID badges around his neck, and states that one is from Islamabad, and one is from Lahore. He then adds, "I work as a consultant there".
According to USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, "U.S. officials in Islamabad will say only that he was an American Embassy employee who was considered part of the 'administrative and technical staff'."
Ejaz Haider pointed to this difference, writing, "This has now been changed to this man being an employee of the US embassy. Why? Because, and this is important, there are two different Vienna Conventions, one on diplomatic relations (1961) and the other on consular relations (1963)."
Davis' background
U.S. Army records indicate that Davis is a native of Wise, VirginiaWise, Virginia
Wise is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,286 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wise County. It was originally incorporated as the town of Gladeville in 1874. The town's name was changed to Wise in 1924. Wise is named after Virginia governor Henry A...
and spent 10 years in the Army, being discharged
Military discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...
in 2003. Davis served in infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
units. He received basic training
United States Army Basic Training
United States Army Basic Training is the program of physical and mental training required in order for an individual to become a soldier in the United States Army, United States Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. It is carried out at several different Army posts around the United States...
at Fort Benning
Fort Benning
Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...
in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, served six months with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Macedonia in 1994, and later joined the Special Forces. Davis' final assignment with the Army was weapons sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
with the Fort Bragg, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
-based 3rd Special Forces Group
3rd Special Forces Group (United States)
The 3rd Special Forces Group – abbreviated 3rd SFG and often called simply "3rd Group" – is a U.S. Army Special Forces unit active in the Vietnam Era and reactivated in 1990. Its area of operations is now Sub-Saharan Africa- History :- 1960s :3rd Group was first activated on 5 December 1963 at...
.
After his military service, Davis was the operator of "Hyperion Protective Services, LLC" a company organized as an LLC
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
. Varying reports indicate that the firm is based in either Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
or Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
. The company's website was taken down after the Davis incident, but before its removal the website described the firm as specializing in "loss and risk management
Risk management
Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities...
." According to the BBC, "the offices that the company says it had in Orlando have been vacant for several years and the numbers on its website are unlisted."
Davis was also a CIA contractor as an employee of Blackwater Worldwide
Blackwater Worldwide
Xe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...
(now Xe).
Davis' activities in Pakistan
It is alleged that following his arrest, the police recovered photographs of sensitive areas and defence installations from Davis' camera, among which included snapshots of the Bala Hisar FortBala Hisar Fort
Bala Hisar Fort is one of the most historic places of Peshawar. The word Bala Hisar is from Persian, meaning, “elevated or high fort”. According to Dr. Hussain Khan, the name was given by the Afghan King Timur Shah Durrani...
, the headquarters of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
and of the Pakistan Army’s bunkers on the Eastern border with India. The Government of Punjab considered Davis a security risk after the recovery of the photos. Prosecutors also suggested that Davis be charged with espionage. In particular Davis main espionage activities were against Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
and Pakistan's nuclear facilities
Nuclear power in Pakistan
As of 2009, nuclear power in Pakistan is provided by 3 licensed-commercial nuclear power plants. Pakistan is the first Muslim country in the world to construct and operate civil nuclear power plants. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission , the scientific and nuclear governmental agency, is solely...
.
On February 28, DawnNews reported that law enforcement agencies arrested 45 individuals in Pakistan for staying in constant contact with Davis. Other media reported at the same time that at least 30 suspected covert American operatives have suspended their activities in Pakistan and 12 have already left the country.
Many analysts believe Washington halted the CIA drone attacks
Drone attacks in Pakistan
The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, has made a series of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones . These attacks are part of the US' War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants...
in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
, which had been occurring at the average rate of two to three per week since 2008, after Raymond Davis was arrested. There were no reported drone attacks from January 23, four days before the Raymond Davis incident, until February 21.
Aftermath
The Government of Pakistan was under extreme pressure from the United States to release Davis. News reports indicate that the Pakistani Embassy in WashingtonEmbassy of Pakistan in Washington, D.C.
The Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the United States. It is located at 3517 International Court, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Cleveland Park neighborhood....
was cut off from all communications with the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
over this issue. Diplomatic notes were sent by the US Government to Pakistan's Foreign Office urging it to grant diplomatic immunity to Davis. A delegation of the United States House Committee on Armed Services
United States House Committee on Armed Services
thumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...
conveyed a veiled threat that Pakistan-US defense cooperation could be under cloud if the standoff persisted on the issue of immunity for Davis.
In another incident, ABC News reported that two Pakistani officials claimed that the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani
Husain Haqqani
Husain Haqqani or Hussain Haqqani is the former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, appointed by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in April 2008 and was resigned on November 22, 2011...
, received threats from the U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon of being removed if action was not taken on the Davis case. Haqqani however categorically denied the allegation. According to the same report, Donilon also warned of US consulates closing down in Pakistan and an upcoming visit by Zardari to Washington being rejected.
It was also reported that top Pakistani Foreign Office officials alleged Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
instructed the Foreign Office in categorical terms that Davis be given diplomatic immunity and for this purpose the Foreign Office should immediately issue a backdated letter notifying Davis as ‘member of staff member of the US embassy, in Islamabad. Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi refused, saying: “on the basis of the official record and the advice given to me by the technocrats and experts of the Foreign Office, I could not certify him (Raymond Davis) as a diplomat. The kind of by blanket immunity Washington is pressing for Davis, is not endorsed by the official record of the Foreign Ministry." Qureshi reiterated this stance after a meeting with Chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
on February 16. Qureshi said he kept quiet on the Davis case earlier upon instructions from the leadership of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), but implied that his stance on the matter had cost him his job. As of February 16 a new foreign minister has not yet been appointed.
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that a number of U.S. media outlets learned about Davis's CIA role but "kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration." Colorado television station KUSA (9NEWS) learned that Davis worked for the CIA speaking to Davis's wife, who referred inquiries to a Washington, D.C. number for the CIA. The station then "removed the CIA reference from its website at the request of the U.S. government."
On February 6, Shamshad's widow, Shumaila Kanwal, committed suicide with an overdose
Drug overdose
The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
of pills, fearing that Davis would be released without trial, police and doctors said.
Release
Charges were dropped and Davis was released after payment to the families of the two people he had shot. He was released under a principle of ShariaSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
(Islamic law) which allows murder charges to be dismissed if diyya
Diyya
Diyya is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic, the word means both blood money and ransom.-Islamic and Arab tradition:The Qur'an specifies the principle of Qisas Diyya (plural: Diyyat; ) is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic, the word means both blood money and...
is paid to the deceased's families (if and only if, they agreed without any pressure), an arrangement which is legal and common in Pakistan. According to Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
, the families' lawyer said that the families were forced to accept the deal.
A senior Pakistani official stated that between $1.4 and $3 million was paid to families of the deceased. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the U.S. government had not paid money for Davis to be released. Davis was also fined Rs
Pakistani rupee
The rupee is the currency of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan, the central bank of the country. The most commonly used symbol for the rupee is Rs, used on receipts when purchasing goods and services. In Pakistan, the rupee is referred to as the...
20,000 by the judge for possessing illegal firearms. An attorney representing the families said that the Pakistani government paid the diyat, but U.S. officials indicated that the U.S. government would reimburse Pakistani authorities. Asad Manzoor Butt, a lawyer who had been representing the deceased's relatives, told the media outside the jail that he had been detained for several hours by the prison administration and the heirs had been forced to sign the diyat papers.
After being released, Davis was flown to Bagram Airfield in Kabul aboard U.S. aircraft. He was accompanied on the flight by Cameron Munter
Cameron Munter
Cameron Phelps Munter is a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. He is the Ambassador to Pakistan. Earlier, he was an advisor for political and military issues to Christopher R...
, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan
United States Ambassador to Pakistan
The U.S. embassy in Karachi was established August 15, 1947 with Edward W. Holmes as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, pending the appointment of an ambassador. The first ambassador, Paul H. Alling, was appointed on September 20, 1947. Anne W. Patterson was nominated as United States Ambassador to...
. A senior U.S. official told the Washington Post that Davis was flown there because U.S. wanted Davis out of Pakistan as soon as possible and "it was the closest place" and stated that Davis was in "good spirits." The Pakistani newspaper The News International
The News International
The News International , published in tabloid size, is the largest English language newspaper in Pakistan. The News has an ABC certified circulation of 140,000. It is published from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad...
stated that Davis left Lahore at 4:53 p.m. aboard the Viper 18, a 12-seat Cessna
Cessna
The Cessna Aircraft Company is an airplane manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Their main products are general aviation aircraft. Although they are the most well known for their small, piston-powered aircraft, they also produce business jets. The company is a subsidiary...
and claimed that there were "strong indications" that four family members of the Pakistani men (Imran Haider, brother of Faizan Haider, and Mohammad Waseem, brother of Mohammad Fahim, and two other family members) were on board the plane.
Events after release
There have been allegations of further repercussions stemming from the Davis incident. A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court, alleging that family members of the two victims have gone missing. Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, a politician opposed to America's presence in Pakistan, has blamed the "Raymond Davis network" for a March 31, 2011 bomb attack targeting him. According to unnamed sources, Davis provided extensive information under interrogation on foreign spy networks in Pakistan, causing some foreign agents to flee the country. Overall, the Raymond Davis incident was detrimental to U.S.-Pakistani relations, possibly even leading to the cessation of all joint operations between Pakistan and the CIA.On October 1, 2011, Douglas County, Colorado
Douglas County, Colorado
Douglas County is the eighth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado, in the United States. The county is located midway between Colorado's two largest cities: Denver and Colorado Springs...
sheriff's deputies arrested Davis in Highlands Park, Colorado, at the Town Center in Highlands Ranch, for third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors, stemming from a dispute between Davis and 50-year-old Jeff Maes about a parking space. Maes and his family got to a parking spot first and parked in it. A witness told police that Davis then confronted Maes and said, "I was waiting for that spot and it wasn't right for you to take it." When Maes refused to move Davis struck Maes. The blow sent Maes to the ground. Davis was released on a $1,750 bail bond. When prosecutors later learned that Maes may have suffered a broken vertebra in the incident, they increased one of the charges against Davis to second-degree assault (a felony), a crime of violence that carries a five-year mandatory minimum, and Davis' bond was raised to $10,000. Neither Maes nor a third man present at the scene have been charged in the incident.
External links
- Who is Raymond Davis?, cryptome.org
- CIA operative in Lahore shooting – an interactive guide from The Guardian