Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was removed for his stance on Raymond Davis as he resisted US pressure seeking diplomatic immunity for the latter, said Masood Sharif, former Director General of Intelligence Bureau (IB) while talking to Business Recorder on Thursday.
The Foreign Office record, Masood added is quite clear: Davis is not a diplomat and therefore is not entitled to immunity for double murder. "The US Embassy in Pakistan is making statements about Davis' diplomatic status and yet is not even ready to disclose his real name," Sharif said.
"Western media began reporting on Davis' non-diplomatic status only recently and this has further lent ambiguity to the entire case," he said, adding that it was a simple murder case that must be decided by a court. "What Lahore Police did in this case is appropriate; they arrested Davis after people stopped him as he was trying to escape after killing two people," the former IB chief said. He added that the material recovered from Davis' car is illegal for any person to carry.
He said that after the arrest, police investigated the matter and presented Davis in the court and got his physical remand. Now he is on a judicial remand and the case must be decided in the court. Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Muhammad Afzal Shigri concurred with Masood saying that Davis killed two people and he should be treated like a common criminal.
He stated that the delay in declaring the status of Davis by the Foreign Office had caused confusions and complicated the case. Rao Muhammad Iqbal, former Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi said that police was bound to arrest a person who had committed a serious offense.
"It is police's duty to arrest the person who commits a crime regardless of his nationality or status. If the offender is a foreigner and claims to be a diplomat, then the police have to refer the matter to the Foreign Office through proper channels," he observed. It is the responsibility of Foreign Office to clarify the status of Davis to avoid any confusion, he said, adding that Davis must be tried in the court and given due punishment for his heinous act.
A well-placed Police officer in Islamabad when contacted said that police code book was quite clear on offense committed by any foreigner be he/she a diplomat or an ordinary citizen. "The police must arrest the foreigner and refer the matter to the Foreign Office, the appropriate forum to ascertain immunity," he added.
Intelligence sources, when contacted, accused Raymond Davis of links with defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They alleged that Davis was recruiting youths for these two terrorist outfits. They said that the record of Davis' cellular phones had established his links with 33 Pakistanis, including 27 militants from the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Punjab Police had reportedly recovered 158 items from Raymond Davis that include a 9mm Glock pistol, 75 bullets, a GPS device, an infrared torch, a wireless set, two mobile phones, a digital camera, a survival kit, five ATM cards and Pakistani and US currency. The camera had photographs of Pakistani defence installations. According to Intelligence officials these items were ample proof of Davis' involvement in activities that were detrimental to Pakistan's national interests. Reports from Western media indicate that the Raymond Davis case has caused a fissure in relations between the CIA and the ISI and that this crack is widening with each passing day.