ISLAMABAD – Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday US national Raymond Davis did not qualify for blanket immunity. “In a meeting at the Foreign Office on January 31, I was told by Foreign Ministry officials that Raymond Davis did not qualify for blanket immunity,” he said.
Addressing a press conference after meeting Senator John Kerry, Qureshi said that the Foreign Ministry officials had reached at the conclusion after going through all relevant record and laws and after holding an inter-ministerial committee meeting which was also attended by senior officials of the Interior Ministry.
“After getting a briefing on the Davis’ immunity, I asked each official present in the meeting about certainty of his technical opinion and they all agreed without any voice of dissent that Raymond Davis could not be given that kind of immunity which was being demanded by the US,” he said.
Qureshi said national pride could not be compromised. “It is time to not bow down before the US and the need of the hour is to live with raised heads,” he added.
He said he might have to pay for the truth “but I have decided on the call of my conscience to say what is just and am ready to pay even higher prices for my resolution”.
“If summoned by the court, I will give my opinion with honesty,” Qureshi said. He said he had been asked to remain silent on the Davis issue but he chose to speak up in national interest.
