ISLAMABAD: Terming the whole incident an embarrassment for the nation, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that he would support an investigation into the release of the US spy Raymond Davis if the parliament asks for it.
The minister was replying to a point-of-order raised by Senator Hafiz Hamdullah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), during Friday’s Senate session regarding the alleged involvement of former president Asif Zardari, former ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani and former ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha in the Raymond Davis incident.
The senator said that Davis — in his book — raised doubts over the sanctity of the state institutions, including the parliament, military, and the Presidency, but neither the government nor any other institution has clarified its stance on the matter. The foreign minister replied that he was willing to initiate a probe into the release of Davis if the parliament gives a go-ahead.
“Many state institutions have been accused of facilitating the release of the spy and I think it is not the institutions but the individuals who did it for personal gains,” said the minister. He added that it was the Pakistan government, not the US, which paid for the release of Davis.
“As long as the authority does not rest with the parliament, such incidents will keep happening,” he said.
Davis was a contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) when he shot two men in Lahore, and ran over another in 2011. He was released after the families of the deceased were paid $2.4 million as blood money. Recently, in his book “The Contractor: How I Landed in a Pakistani Prison and Ignited a Diplomatic Crisis”, he highlighted the role of former CIA director Leon Panetta and ISI’s former chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who allegedly played a big role in securing his release.
