The United States seems to have learnt a lesson from the Raymond Davis saga, when in a failed attempt the super power employed various tactics to declare the killer of two Pakistanis a ‘diplomat’ with his identity card stating otherwise, as its embassy in Islamabad has issued new identity cards to its employees after removing the ‘designation field’, sources told Pakistan Today on Sunday. The Davis episode was the turning point in relations between the two countries. The arrest of the US intelligence contractor also led to the resignation of former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who declared in unequivocal terms that Davis had no diplomatic accreditation with his ministry – a basic requisite for the entitlement to immunity. Qureshi was convinced that Davis was involved in activities “inconsistent with the status of a US diplomat” and that he did not qualify for diplomatic immunity. The US government kept insisting that Davis was a diplomat and qualified for immunity but no one in Pakistan accepted it. Ultimately, he was released on court orders after the families of the deceased pardoned Davis after receiving blood money. Sources said the new identity cards issued by the US embassy do not contain the ‘designation field’ in order to conceal the identity of US employees in case of a mishap. The alarming aspect of the move suggests more Davis-like incidents in Pakistan. However, when contacted, the embassy’s acting spokesman Robert Raines denied the issuing of new identity cards to US embassy employees. Initially he said the employees’ identity cards did not contain the designation column, but when reminded of Davis’s identity card with his designation on it, he said, “The US embassy has not issued any fresh cards.”
Pakistan hasn’t
delivered: India
NEW DELHI
ONLINE
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram supported fruitful engagement with Pakistan on trade, visas and other issues, but regretted that the country had failed to deliver in “matters concerning terror and India’s internal security”. Pakistan had not acted against key Mumbai attack conspirators, he told Indian newspaper the Hindustan Times.
