U.S.-Pakistan Relations Strained after the Bizarre Murders in Lahore

On January 27, Raymond Davis, an American employee at the United States Consulate in Lahore, killed two young Pakistanis in broad daylight in the city center. A 4×4 belonging to the Consulate that was called for backup allegedly ran over and killed a third man. Claiming diplomatic immunity, Washington has demanded that Davis be freed. Islamabad has responded by saying that Davis does not have immunity. The tone is heating up between the two capitals.

The story seems to be right out of a John Le Carré novel. It is undoubtedly a story about espionage, even though the United States is staying very discrete about Raymond Davis’ identity and activities. What was he doing on this beautiful January morning in the outskirts of the old city of Lahore? Everyone knows that there are draconian safety measures in place for American diplomatic personnel in Pakistan and Davis should probably not have been in such a neighborhood that day. Unless…

The most likely scenario is that the man had a meeting with one or more “contacts” that turned bad. The theory stating that he was allegedly attacked and forced to defend himself by firing at, and killing, two young men in self-defense is less likely. Therefore, Davis is probably a spy for the CIA. This is the belief that is largely shared among Pakistanis. But why is he not granted diplomatic immunity? According to authorities in the Punjab Province, it is because he is not part of the diplomatic corps. They claim that he is with the Blackwater security company (now known as Xe), although this has not been proven true.

Sadly, the case has just claimed another victim: Desperate, the young 18 year-old wife of one of the men shot by Raymond Davis committed suicide on Sunday.

It remains to be seen why the government in Islamabad is not saying much either about Davis’ identity.

According to the newspaper Dawn, the Pakistani government has made a monumental mistake by keeping quiet and pretending to ignore that this man is indeed an American spy (he allegedly went to Peshawar and other trouble spots within the country without any problems). On top of that, as the newspaper highlights and leaks have revealed, it is now known that Raymond Davis lived and worked at various jobs in Islamabad and Lahore for several years. This quite simply supports the theory that the murderer was working for the CIA on terrorism within urban areas in Pakistan. And, even more serious, he did so with the tacit agreement of Islamabad. At a time when extremists of all sorts are on the rise in Pakistan and anti-Americanism is dramatically increasing, the least we can say is that the “blunder” committed by the American in Lahore happened at a particularly bad moment. This situation risks putting a strain on relations between Washington and Islamabad, as well as again putting the government in Islamabad in an awkward position in the eyes of the Pakistani public.