LAHORE – The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has condemned the release of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractor Raymond Davis under a “blood money” deal with relatives of the two men he killed, and threatened to target all those who aided the United States in securing his acquittal in court, Indian newspaper Hindustan Times reported on Sunday.
Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan had said the militant group’s central leadership had taken exception to the release of the “CIA agent” by the court, said the newspaper. “We have evidence that Raymond Davis, as a CIA agent, was involved in acts of terrorism in Pakistan,” the Hindustan Times quoted Ehsan as saying.
A meeting in the tribal areas chaired by TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud had decided to target “all those individuals who were directly or indirectly involved in facilitating the release of Davis”, Ehsan said. “With the help of our colleagues in Punjab, we have initiated an investigation to identify the individuals who played a role in winning freedom for Davis. Setting free the killer of two innocent Pakistanis proved that Pakistan has become a US colony and our rulers have no guts to stand up against their American masters,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Hindustan Times reported that Ehsan claimed that Davis’ release even after “committing double murder” would provide the Americans another opportunity “to make fun of Pakistan”. Davis was acquitted and pardoned by a court in Lahore last week after Rs 200 million were paid as “blood money” under Islamic laws to the relatives of the two men shot and killed by the CIA contractor in January, said the newspaper.
