Raymond Allen Davis is a former United States Army soldier, private security firm employee, and contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Immediately after the shooting, a car coming to aid Davis killed a third Pakistani man, Ibadur Rahman, in a hit and run while speeding on the wrong side of the road.
[6][7][8] On March 16, 2011, Davis was released after the families of the two killed men were paid US$2.4 million in diyya (a form of blood money compensation in Islamic law).
A major focus of the incident was the U.S. government's assertion that Davis was protected under the principle of diplomatic immunity due to his role as an "administrative and technical official" attached to the American consulate in Lahore.
[4] The United States claimed that Davis was protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and demanded he be released from custody immediately.
"[14] Pakistani officials disputed the claim of immunity from a murder charge, asserting that Davis was involved in clandestine operations, and questioned the scope of his activities in Pakistan.
[22] An unnamed official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) stated that Davis had contacts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border and knew both of the men that he had shot.
[23] Some media outlets have suggested, according to anonymous sources, that data retrieved from Davis's phones and GPS device indicated that he had been to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and some areas in the tribal belt of the country that have been the subject of U.S. drone attacks.
Police say they included four magazines containing 100 bullets, various battery cells, a baton, scissors, a pair of gloves, a compass with knife, a black colored mask/blindfold, and a piece of cloth bearing the American flag.
[6][30][36][37][38] According to news sources, items recovered from Davis's car included a Glock handgun, an infrared light, a portable telescope, GPS equipment, two cellphones, a satellite phone, 9mm ammunition, multiple ATM and military ID cards, and a camera containing pictures of "prohibited areas such as installations along the border with India".
[39][40] Pakistani media have also reported that Davis also carried multiple ATM and military ID cards and what was described as a facial disguise or makeup.
[43] The police officer in charge of the investigation, Zulfiqar Hameed, was initially reported as having said that eyewitness testimony suggested that the men were trying to rob Davis.
[47] The Express Tribune also reported that the two dead motorcyclists were intelligence operatives, quoting a Pakistani security official who requested not to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media.
[48] Pakistani officials alleged that Davis had travelled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and met with some people without the approval of ISI and therefore was being followed in an attempt to intimidate him.
[53] After senior Pakistani official, Information Secretary of the PPP Fauzia Wahab made statements reflecting her personal belief that Davis did have diplomatic immunity, she resigned her post rather than testify.
[58] Regarding the law concerning if Davis was on the "consular" staff, a practising lawyer in Islamabad, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, referred to the Vienna Convention of 1963 in The News International, writing: "one needs to read Article 41 (1) which says: Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority.
"[59] Pakistani investigators took the position that Davis did not shoot the two men acting in self-defence and the police recommended he face a charge of double murder.
[71] On February 28, Dawn News reported that law enforcement agencies arrested 45 individuals in Pakistan for staying in constant contact with Davis.
[73] It is believed that Washington halted the CIA drone attacks in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which had been occurring at the average rate of two to three per week since 2008, after Raymond Davis was arrested to avoid further straining the tense situation.
A delegation of the United States House Committee on Armed Services conveyed a veiled threat that Pakistan–US defense cooperation could be under cloud if the standoff persisted on the issue of immunity for Davis.
Qureshi said he kept quiet on the Davis case earlier upon instructions from the leadership of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), but implied that his stance on the matter had cost him his job.
[88] The Guardian reported that a number of U.S. media outlets learned about Davis's CIA role but "kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration.
"[4] On February 6, Shamshad's widow, Shumaila Kanwal, committed suicide with an overdose of pills, fearing that Davis would be released without trial, police and doctors said.
[11][12][90] He was released under a principle of Sharia (Islamic law) that allows murder charges to be dismissed if diyya is paid to the deceased's families (if and only if, they agreed without any pressure), an arrangement which is legal and common in Pakistan.
[92][93] Asad Manzoor Butt, a lawyer who had been representing the deceased's relatives, told the media outside the jail that he had been detained for several hours by the prison administration and the heirs had been forced to sign the diyat papers.
"[12] The Pakistani newspaper The News International stated that Davis left Lahore at 4:53 p.m. aboard the Viper 18, a 12-seat Cessna and claimed that there were "strong indications" that four family members of the Pakistani men (Imran Haider, brother of Faizan Haider, and Mohammad Waseem, brother of Mohammad Fahim, and two other family members) were on board the plane.
[96] Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, a politician opposed to U.S. presence in Pakistan, has blamed the "Raymond Davis network" for a March 31, 2011 bomb attack targeting him.
[3] In June 2017, Davis launched his book titled The Contractor: How I Landed in a Pakistani Prison and Ignited a Diplomatic Crisis, detailing his narration of the incident and the events which unfolded during his imprisonment in Pakistan.
[3] In the book, Davis made several adversarial claims about the Pakistani government and military establishment's actions, and their involvement with respect to his case.
The editorial also noted that Davis' account of his exit suggested "a range of Pakistani officials bent over backwards to ensure his release" which appeared plausible in light of the U.S. government's public position.