Former officials warn against handing over Davis

Feb 10, 2011 |

IANS/AKI

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Islamabad: Former army officers will take action against the Pakistani government if it releases US official Raymond Davis, suspected of murder and espionage, ex-intelligence services chief and retired general Hamid Gul warned.

"If the government shows any softness in the case of Raymond Davis, former army officers would play their role in the defence of the national interest," Gul told a crowd of approximately 200 men and women in Islamabad.

"Enough is enough! Americans killed our men and yet our government is apologetic," Gul said on Wednesday.

"We don't want any hostilities with the United States of America but we warned Americans that do not test our nerves too much," retired General Hamid Gul maintained.

The issue of Davis, an American employee of the US diplomatic mission in Pakistan, has become a bone of contention between Pakistan and the US.

US officials have threatened to cut the $1.5 billion of annual aid to Pakistan if Davis is not released, and on Tuesday put but bilateral contracts on hold.

He was arrested in January for allegedly shooting dead two Pakistani motorbike riders in Lahore.

"The whole issue has been mishandled by Americans as well as by the Pakistani authorities from the very beginning," former Pakistani ambassador to US Tariq Fatimi told a TV talk show.

"Raymond was initially described as the technical advisor of US consulate in Lahore by the American embassy in Pakistan. Then it was claimed he belonged to the US embassy's staff in Islamabad.

"Pakistan has not kept to a straightforward policy about Raymond Davis," Fatimi maintained.

The case took a dramatic turn when the widow of one of the victims of the Lahore shooting, Muhammad Fahim, committed suicide on last Sunday, turning public opinion against Davis.

Davis worked for a private security firm before he went to Pakistan but holds a diplomatic passport.

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