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US diplomat’s Pakistan police station encounter

11 February 2011 02:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Video footage has been released that purportedly shows an American who shot dead two Pakistanis telling police he is a consultant for the US consular general in Lahore and pleading with them to find his passport, APA reports quoting guardian.co.uk website.
The clip of his encounter with security officials soon after the late January shooting first aired on Wednesday night on the private Dunya television channel. Its existence could deepen the mystery surrounding what’s become a major diplomatic dispute between the US and Pakistan, whose alliance is considered key to success in the war in Afghanistan.
The US has demanded that Pakistan release the American, saying that he has diplomatic immunity and shot the two men, who were armed, in self-defence on 27 January in Lahore because they came up to his car and tried to rob him. To pressure Pakistan for his release, the US has begun curbing contacts with the country’s leaders and lawmakers and has threatened to cut off billions of dollars in aid.
Pakistan’s leaders, eager to avoid a backlash among a population where anti-Americanism is rife, have avoided definitive statements on the status of the American, whom they have identified as Raymond Allen Davis, and say the matter is up to the courts. Davis faces potential murder charges, and his next court appearance is set for Friday.
The footage was apparently shot by a mobile phone that was lying on a table at a police station in Lahore. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified, but although the lighting is not good Davis’s face is visible and it matches pictures taken of him after the incident.
By Thursday, the clip was available on YouTube.
Speaking in a clear American accent, with a slight southern twang, Davis says at one point in the video that he’s with the US Embassy, which is in Islamabad, and says later that he’s doing consulting work for the consular general, who is based at the US consulate in Lahore. He also says he’s with the "RAO," an apparent reference to the US Regional Affairs Office.
He shows police multiple identification badges around his neck, some of which he says are old. Police read his name out as Raymond Davis and he doesn’t deny that. He says that when the police first caught him he showed an officer his passport but the document has since gone missing and he needs police to help find it, possibly by searching his car.
The police speak mostly in Urdu and Punjabi among themselves, and at one point offer him water but joke that he’d have to pay for it.
Dunya also showed pictures allegedly found in a camera confiscated from Davis. The photos appeared to include government and police offices and areas near the Indian border, and could fuel suspicions about why Davis would have taken them.
Exactly what sort of work Davis does for the US is a major issue because it could affect Pakistan’s determinations about his diplomatic immunity.
US officials declined to comment on the clip, but insisted that Davis’s specific assignments at any given time did not detract from the fact that he was officially an American embassy employee who was considered part of the "administrative and technical staff."
That designation gives him blanket immunity and makes it illegal under international agreements for Pakistan to even detain him, according to the US.
There has also been controversy in Pakistan over the fact that Davis was armed. A senior US official told the Associated Press that Davis was authorised by the US to carry a weapon, but that it was a "grey area" whether Pakistan’s law permitted him to do so.
According to records from the Pentagon, the 36-year-old Davis is a former special forces soldier who left the army in August 2003 after 10 years of service. A Virginia native, he served with infantry divisions prior to joining the 3rd Special Forces Group in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
In 1994, he was part of the UN peacekeeping force in Macedonia. His record includes several awards and medals,some for good conduct.
Public records also show Davis runs a company with his wife registered in Las Vegas called Hyperion Protective Services, though it was not immediately clear whether the company has had many contracts with the US government.
The US embassy says he has a diplomatic passport and a visa valid until the end of June 2012. It also said in a statement that the US had notified the Pakistan government of Davis’s assignment more than a year ago.
After the shootings in Lahore on 27 January, Davis called for backup. The American car rushing to the scene hit a third Pakistani, a bystander, who later died. The US has said nothing about the Americans involved in that third death, though Pakistani police have said they want to question them as well.