CAIRO/ISLAMABAD – The US government did not pay any compensation to families of the two Pakistanis killed by Raymond Davis, the American national, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
“The United States did not pay any compensation,” Clinton told reporters in Cairo. Asked who paid the families, she replied: “You will have to ask the families.” Asked if the Pakistan government had paid compensation, the secretary of state said: “You will have to ask the Pakistani government.” US Senator John Kerry lauded the Pakistan government for its decision to set Davis free as the federal and Punjab government claimed they did not play any role in the acquittal of Raymond Davis, and that it was purely a court verdict.
“This was a very important and necessary step for both of our countries to be able to maintain our relationship and remain focused on progress on bedrock national interests, and I’m deeply grateful for the Pakistani government’s decision,” Kerry said in a statement issued by the US Embassy. US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said in a statement that he was grateful to the families of the victims for pardoning Davis.
Munter expressed regret for the incident and his “sorrow at the suffering it caused.” He confirmed that the US Justice Department had opened an investigation into the incident in Lahore. While the Americans have denied that they have paid the blood money, reports in Pakistan suggest that money was indeed paid to the victims’ families.
However, it remains an enigma as to whether the government of Pakistan paid the money on behalf of the US and would be reimbursed at some appropriate time.
