Pakistan Asks for Update On Raymond Davis Investigation; OBL Immunization Doctor Accused of Treason
On Tuesday, noting the felony charge Raymond Davis faces in Colorado over a parking lot fight, I asked what happened to the investigation the US promised regarding Davis killing two Pakistanis in Lahore earlier this year. It turns out I’m not alone in asking that question. Karen DeYoung at the Washington Post reports that Pakistan has made a formal request for an update on the investigation. In other Pakistan news breaking this afternoon, we learn that a commission in Pakistan has urged filing of conspiracy and high treason charges against the doctor who assisted the CIA by setting up a fake immunization program in order to gain access to the suspected compound where Osama bin Laden was hiding.
It turns out that Pakistan asked about the Davis investigation a day before I did. From DeYoung’s post:
In an Oct. 3 diplomatic note to Justice and the State Department, Ambassador Husain Haqqani referenced “the ongoing investigation” and asked that “the latest status in the matter may kindly be conveyed to the Embassy.” Haqqani said no reply had yet been received.
Asked the same question, Justice spokesperson Laura Sweeney declined to comment on the department’s behalf.
DeYoung also provides further background on the initial steps taken in the US to start the Davis investigation:
In a May 26 letter to Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Mary Ellen Warlow, director of the Criminal Division of Justice’s international affairs office, said that the department was “currently investigating” the Lahore shooting and requested that Pakistan “take steps to preserve all evidence relating to these events” and set up a liaison officer at the embassy to handle the matter.
That, Pakistan says, is the last it heard.
Note that this letter to Pakistan came over two months after Davis was released in mid-March. If that letter was the last Pakistan heard about the investigation, it seems safe to assume that no US investigators have been to Pakistan to examine the evidence Pakistan was instructed to preserve or to interview witnesses. Also, it remains unclear whether the investigation into Davis’ actions also is to include investigation into the vehicle which struck and killed a pedestrian after it was dispatched from the consulate in Lahore to rescue Davis.
Voice of America brings us the news on the recommendation of treason charges against the Pakistani doctor:
A Pakistani commission said Thursday that the government should file conspiracy and high treason charges against Shakeel Afridi.
Afridi is accused of running a fake vaccination campaign to help U.S. intelligence obtain DNA samples of bin Laden and his family.
/snip/
The Pakistani government set up the commission to investigate how U.S. forces managed to track down bin Laden and carry out the operation without Pakistan’s prior knowledge.
The article goes on to inform us that this same commission also interviewed Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who heads Pakistan’s main intelligence organization, the ISI. In addition, the commission interviewed bin Laden’s wives and children. The commission is headed by a Supreme Court judge, but it is not clear how binding its recommendations will be.
It’s the combination of American hubris and Pakistani factionalism that will cause the most headaches in the area. All the more reason to leave, now.
Let Exxon and Shell pay for their own pipeline security, Xe will be happy to do it [for a price….].
Counting the hours/days until US comes to Afridi’s defense, you know International Treaties, cooperation, fightin’ Terrerists there so we don’t have to fight them here and all. And surely it can’t happen here, with the Rule(s)-of-Law that the Shining City on the Hill follows, and such, rules our democracy sets down for the Dark Matter: “the Force that Orders the Universe that can’t be seen”, except maybe Ray Davis with a weapon, ’cause he’s like Captain America or Johnny Alpha, keeping us all safe in our beds. Also, too there’s nothing to prosecute, ’cause the laws on the books have loop-holes, or some such AlbertoG/Rumsfeld or is it Holder, so confusing, bullshit line, so sayz the President, who’s right because he’s a Democrat.
http://www.emptywheel.net/2011/09/06/the-death-squads-protecting-our-country/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/top-secret-america-a-look-at-the-militarys-joint-special-operations-command/2011/08/30/gIQAvYuAxJ_story.html
Then there’s the report that Dr. Zaheer Ahmed, charged with working for the ISI to influence US politicians, died. Of a stroke. Back on Sept 28 – but the reports are just now coming out.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistani-american-doctor-charged-in-us-over-alleged-links-to-pakistan-spy-agency-dies/2011/10/07/gIQAzzD6RL_story.html
@Mary: Yeah, I saw that and felt as uneasy about it as you appear to feel.
OT? Interesting that Dr. Z Ahmed had dual citizenship…
@Mary: @Mary: He is said to have suffered a brain hemorrhage a week ago during a ceremony and to have been hospitalized since then. Shifa International Hospital CEO passes away:
Tangentially on topic, from Kimberly Dozier of the AP:
Huh. And here I thought it was a crime zone.
Some sort of robbery was going on in Lahore, Davis and the U.S. said. Not some sort of war.
Side note:The story mentions Ambassador Husain Haqqani. Would this be the same Haqqani as the Hiqqani network the US is trying shut down in Pakistan? Given the tribal nature of Pakistan, he can’t be too removed from the network.
If so, why is he on US soil?