ISLAMABAD – The US on Monday called on Pakistan to free Raymond Davis, being detained in Lahore on double murder charges, following confirmations by US and Pakistani intelligence officials that Raymond Davis was an undercover CIA contractor.
Washington insisted that Raymond Davis is a member of its Islamabad embassy’s “administrative and technical staff” who had diplomatic immunity and should be released immediately. “It is beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was working for CIA,” an official from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“He’s on contract. He’s not a regular CIA guy, but he’s working for CIA. That’s confirmed,” he said. US officials declined public comment on accounts that Davis worked for the CIA, still insisting he enjoyed diplomatic immunity because Pakistan had accepted his status when he entered.
“We remain concerned about him and our message to Pakistan remains he should be released as soon as possible,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters on a conference call. Crowley said Pakistan had told the US that Davis was staying “in the safest possible location in Lahore”. “Clearly, we hold the government of Pakistan fully responsible for his safety,” Crowley said.
The Washington Post, citing an American official seeking anonymity, reported that Davis had spent much of the past two years working as part of a group of covert CIA operatives, whose mission appeared to have centered on conducting surveillance of militant groups in large cities, including Lahore, adding that at the time of his arrest, Davis was based at a house with five other CIA contractors as well as a former agency staff officer who had returned to work for the spy service for the assignment in Pakistan.
