Expert Zone
Straight from the Specialists
Davis release signals recalibration of US-Pakistan intelligence ties
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
After spending almost two months in a Lahore jail for killing two Pakistanis, CIA contractor Raymond Davis was released on Wednesday, ending one of the most serious diplomatic stand-offs between Islamabad and Washington in nine years of partnering in the fight against terrorism.
Davis was set free after family members of the Pakistanis killed by Davis told a Pakistani court that they were dropping charges in exchange for financial compensation, often referred to as “blood money” in Pakistan.
It is likely that the deal to release Davis in exchange for compensation to the victims’ families was reached behind closed doors by Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the CIA.
