ISLAMABAD – The ongoing investigation into the killing of two Pakistanis by American Raymond Davis has led to a startling disclosure that there is no consolidated list of dozens of other such “dubious diplomatic characters” currently in Pakistan on various assignments.
Pakistan Today has reliably learnt that neither the Foreign Office nor the Interior Ministry has any record of foreigners coming to Pakistan on diplomatic passport on visit or business visas. US authorities have been exerting immense pressure for the release of Davis for days now since he was arrested in Lahore and since late, it has been conveyed to Islamabad through diplomatic channels that if Washington’s demand was not accepted, it would be left with no other choice but to review its policy of extending aid to Pakistan in defence and economic sectors.
This threat has seemingly worked and the government is most likely to soon come up with a decision to extend immunity to the US citizen before the court thus paving the way for his release. “The issue of Davis, however, has raised alarms among the country’s security agencies that were already weary of issuance of visas to hundreds of Americans without proper scrutiny, reportedly upon the urge and desire of the Presidency,” a diplomat said.
He said it had been revealed that Davis was not the only person who was in Pakistan on special assignment in the garb of diplomacy, but there were several others about whom no information is available. The diplomat said not only the names of those “dubious diplomats” were missing, but no one had any idea about their exact umber as well. “There could be dozens of them out there,” he said.
He said the Foreign Ministry did have the information about there presence in Pakistan as after all they had come here on Pakistani visas, but no one had taken the pain to prepare their lists. A security official said it was true that there was no proper listing of Americans coming to Pakistan, especially those whose credentials were not genuine, but it was also true that they had been given the status of diplomat after demand was made for the purpose by their own country.
He said the probe into the issue of Davis suggested that he was initially declared someone working at US Consulate in Lahore and later a staff member of American embassy in Islamabad, while his ID card at the time of his arrest showed that he worked for the US consulate general in Peshawar.
“This is intriguing as one person is working at three different places at one time,” the official said. He said that the probe also revealed that Davis was a man of military background and had been posted at US Regional Affairs Office, which is linked to the CIA.
“It doesn’t end here as Davis also had some other IDs in his possession, such as a card of the US Department of Veteran Affairs and that of a contractor of Department of Defence. The official said Davis had disclosed the names of the three other people who came to rescue him. “These names will be put on the ECL,” he said.
