Riots in Pakistan after secret deal with U.S. to pay $2.3m 'blood money' to free CIA agent who shot dead two men



Rioting in Lahore as U.S. does secret 'blood money' deal with Pakistan



Wife of freed CIA man says 'he is no Rambo'

Risk of backlash against Pakistani government



Brothers of victims previously said no to 'blood money'

There was rioting on the streets of Pakistan tonight after a CIA agent who shot two men dead was released over a secret 'blood money' pact with the U.S.



Raymond Allen Davis has been in jail since January 27, seriously straining ties between Pakistan and America, but was released after the families of the dead were paid $2.3 million to drop the case.



Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah says Davis was charged with murder on Wednesday but was then pardoned by the families of the victims in exchange for the compensation payment.

Freed: CIA agent Raymond Davis has been freed after the families of the dead men were paid 'blood money'. This picture shows him in February after his arrest

Escort: Policemen stand guard as a vehicle transporting consulate officials leave Kot Lakhpat jail today after they attended the trial of Raymond Davis

It was initially thought the money had come from the U.S., but speaking from Cairo Mrs Clinton said earlier today America had not paid the grieving families.



Asked if the Pakistani government had paid compensation, Mrs Clinton said: 'You will have to ask the Pakistani government.'

An unnamed government source said the U.S. 'expects to receive a bill at some point.'

Relieved: Rebecca Davis, wife of freed CIA agent Raymond Davis, maintained her husband was innocent and was 'no Rambo'

Davis has been flown to Kabul, Afghanistan for an extensive debriefing, officials from both countries confirmed.



In the U.S., Rebecca Davis said she was elated when she learned of her husband's release in an early morning phone call.

'I knew it was self-defence. My husband is not a killer. He's not a Rambo,' she said, speaking outside her home near Denver.



Pakistani law allows murder suspects to be set free if they compensate the heirs of their victims.

The revelation that Pakistan may have paid the 'blood money' has sparked fears of vicious backlash against the government.

Thousands have already taken to the streets throughout Pakistan tonight as news of the deal emerged.

Talat Masood, a retired general, said some groups in Pakistan could use the case to their advantage.

'Some elements will take advantage of it [such as] opposition parties, even if it's only for rhetoric to gain points.

'With the religious parties and militant groups, they might use it to expand their reach.'

The country's powerful religious parties had tried to block such a deal, calling for Davis to be hanged, and the families' lawyer suggested they had been forced to sign the papers.

The payment came after brothers of the two dead men said last month they would not accept 'blood money' for the deaths.

'We only want justice. We want blood for blood and nothing else,' Mr Wasim, brother to victim Mohammed Faheem said.

Similarly, Mr Faheem's widow Shumaila committed suicide by taking poison, saying she feared her husband's death would go unpunished.

Washington insisted Davis was acting in self-defence against robbers after he shot two men while he was driving through the eastern city of Lahore on January 27.

Davis shot the two Pakistanis as they pulled up beside him on motorbikes while he waited at traffic lights.



Some reports quoted Pakistan intelligence officers as saying the men Davis killed - 21-year-old Faizan Haider and 19-year-old Mr Faheem - were ISI agents ordered to shadow him.

Protest: Activists of the Pakistani fundamentalist Islamic party Jamaat-i-Islami shout slogans as they march toward the US embassy during a protest against the release Raymond Davis

Violence: Pakistani protesters scuffle with police officers during a rally against the release of Davis

They had been told to do so because he had crossed a 'red line', the rumours claimed.

A third Pakistani was killed when struck by a U.S. car rushing to aid the American.

Bystander Ibadur Rehman, died when he was struck by the car with U.S. 'consulate personnel' inside.

The incident is also likely to have a lasting impact on how the U.S. Congress, already suspicious of Pakistan's commitment to defeating some militants groups in Afghanistan, views a government that is a major recipient of U.S. military and civilian aid.

Republican lawmaker Dana Rohrabacher said the Davis case 'should suggest we take a close look at the fundamentals of who we give our aid to and whether or not they are our friends, or whether they are treating us like suckers.'



The United States protested the detention of Davis from the start, saying he has protected status from prosecution.

And last month, President Barack Obama referred to him as 'our diplomat' and demanded he be free.

U.S. officials also initially described Davis as a consulate or embassy employee, but later said on condition of anonymity that he was doing security work in Pakistan as a contractor for the CIA.

They maintained this did not make any difference to his right to diplomatic immunity.

How blood money works The idea of 'blood money' to settle murder cases instead of a trial is accepted in Islam and under Pakistani law.

The fines completely protect the offender, and his family, from the vengeance of the injured family.

The Islamic term for the money is a Qisa.

The amount varies in different countries and from case to case.

The payment goes hand in hand with the idea of 'blood feuds' and honour killings, where aggrieved families descend into a spiral of revenge attacks in order to uphold family honour.

The Davis case became a flashpoint for Pakistani nationalism and anti-American suspicion, making it harder for Pakistani authorities to back down despite intense U.S. pressure.

The revelations gave new life to conspiracy theories in Pakistan about armed American mercenaries roaming the country's streets at will.

U.S. authorities threatened to withhold billions of dollars in aid to the country if Davis was not released.

Last month former presidential hopeful John Kerry flew to Pakistan to try and bargain for Davis's release.



Mr Kerry spoke on a last-minute trip to try to heal relations over the case. He emphasised his sorrow over the incident and the deaths of the two men.

In addition to igniting a diplomatic stand-off, Davis' case has strained relations between the CIA and Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which did not know of Davis' presence in the country.

CIA-ISI ties are essential to battling Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, where U.S. and other foreign forces are fighting an almost-decade-old war which has become increasingly bloodier over the past few months.

Relations between the spy agencies took a blow in December, when the CIA station chief in Islamabad was forced to leave the country after his name was published in a court filing over drone attacks. Davis' case made matter worse.

Dead: In this picture taken on March 3, 2011, Waseem Shamzad, right, and Imran Haider whose brothers were shot killed by Raymond Allen Davis stand outside the prison where he was held

Suicide: Shumaila, the widow of one the two Pakistanis killed by Davis, lies on a bed as she is brought to a hospital for treatment after ingesting poison. She died a short time later

'Post incident conduct of CIA has virtually put the partnership into question... it is hard to predict if the relationship will ever reach the level at which it was prior to the Davis episode,' the ISI said in a letter to the Wall Street Journal.

Part of the confusion over Davis' status lay in his background. The administration insisted that Davis was part of the embassy's 'administrative and technical staff'.

But Pakistani media reports focused on him being a former Special Forces soldier who runs an American 'protective services' company with his wife.

To further confuse matters, journalists also obtained a photocopy of an ID and a salary document that Davis apparently gave Pakistani authorities, showing that he was scheduled to be paid $200,000 from September 21, 2010, until September 20, 2011.

The money was to be for 'overseas protective sec. svcs.,' training, administration work and insurance and travel expenses.

Davis was also identified as a Defense Department contractor on the ID card.