Davis to be Tried on Espionage, Terror Charges

Davis to be Tried on Espionage, Terror Charges

Pakistan’s military is considering trying CIA operative Raymond Davis, arrested in Lahore last month after killing two Pakistani citizens, under the Army Act of 1952 for charges ranging from espionage to masterminding assassinations and terror attacks on Pakistani soil.

A senior intelligence official, speaking to PKKH on condition of anonymity, confirmed that there was ‘mountains of evidence’ of CIA support to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as plans to strike at Qudsia Mosque in Lahore in a bid to assasinate Jama’at-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

‘Murder charges should be the least of his worries now. We have mountains of evidence of covert support to banned outfits including the TTP. Davis has been a vital link between the CIA and the TTP, but by no means the only link.

We believe there are many other CIA under-cover operatives in Pakistan at this point in time, including the three that escaped in the other vehicle after the shooting incident in Lahore’, the official added.

PKKH was the first news organisation to report that Raymond Davis’ hit-list included Jama’at-ud-Dawa – in a report published on February 11th. The New York Times confirmed on Monday that Davis ‘was part of a covert, CIA-led team of operatives’ conducting surveillance on militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, the alleged militant wing of Jama’at-ud-Dawa, according to American government officials. PKKH also revealed on February 11th that among the pre-marked targets saved on Davis’ GPS device were the Qadsia Masjid in Lahore, JuD’s headquarters in Muridke, Sialkot Cantonment, as well as a number of other civilian and military locations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This contradicts the US claim that Davis was a member of the ‘technical and administrative staff’ of its diplomatic mission in Pakistan.

CIA and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

Davis, a retired Special Forces soldier who had worked previously for Blackwater Worldwide (now known as Xe) was working out of a safehouse in Lahore rented by the US Consulate.

The New York Times had agreed to temporarily withhold information about Mr. Davis’s ties to the agency at the request of the Obama administration, which argued that disclosure of his specific job would put his life at risk. Several foreign news organizations have disclosed some aspects of Mr. Davis’s work with the CIA.

“The Lahore killings were a blessing in disguise for our security agencies who suspected that Davis was masterminding terrorist activities in Lahore and other parts of Punjab,” a senior official in the Punjab police claimed, as reported by the Pakistani daily ‘Express Tribune’.

“His close ties with the TTP were revealed during the investigations,” he added. “Davis was instrumental in recruiting young people from Punjab for the Taliban to fuel the bloody insurgency.” Call records of the cellphones recovered from Davis have established his links with 33 Pakistanis, including 27 militants from the TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi sectarian outfit, sources said.

Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons

Davis was also said to be working on a plan to give credence to the American notion that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not safe. For this purpose, he was setting up a group of the Taliban which would do his bidding.

The Punjab law minister has said that Davis could be tried for anti-state activities. “The spying gadgets and sophisticated weapons recovered are never used by diplomats,” Rana Sanaullah told The Express Tribune.

He said some of the items recovered from Davis have been sent for a detailed forensic analysis. “A fresh case might be registered against Davis under the [Official] Secrets Act once the forensics report was received,” he said.

Sanaullah confirmed that Davis could also be tried under the Army Act. To substantiate his viewpoint, he said recently 11 persons who had gone missing from Rawalpindi’s Adiyala jail were booked under the Army Act. However, a senior lawyer said that only the Army has the authority to register a case under the Army Act of 1952 against any person who is involved in activities detrimental to the army or its installations.

“Such an accused will also be tried by the military court,” Qazi Anwer, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said. He added that the civil authorities could register a case of espionage against any person.

Jama’at-ud-Dawa

PKKH was the first news organisation to report that Raymond Davis’ hit-list included Jama’at-ud-Dawa – in a report published on February 11th. The New York Times confirmed on Monday that Davis ‘was part of a covert, CIA-led team of operatives’ conducting surveillance on militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, the alleged militant wing of Jama’at-ud-Dawa, according to American government officials. PKKH also revealed on February 11th that among the pre-marked targets saved on Davis’ GPS device were the Qadsia Masjid in Lahore, JuD’s headquarters in Muridke, Sialkot Cantonment, as well as a number of other civilian and military locations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Jama’at-ud-Dawa, blamed by India for carrying out the Mumbai attacks in 2008, is accused by US officials to have close links with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). It was registered as a charity in 1986 and has been at the forefront of relief activities following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 as well as Pakistan’s massive floods last year. Additionally, JuD also runs hundreds of schools and higher education institutes in Pakistan providing modern scientific and religious education to children from poor families.

Despite western pressure, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have failed to give much credence to Indian allegations linking Hafiz Saeed and Jama’at-ud-Dawa to the Mumbai attacks and have refused to take action against the outfit.

“Jama’at-ud-Dawa have worked very closely with the army in various relief operations in recent years and have never been found inolved in a single anti-state incident or terrorist activity on Pakistan soil, therefore there is absolutely no reason to go after them. The ISI holds them in high regard and has used their help in FATA and Swat to try and control the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the past. The TTP declared war against the JuD in 2008 when they called for assasinating Hafiz Saeed and other senior figures. They massaccred and kidnapped scores of Jama’at-ud-Dawa workers after a Jirga in Mohmand agency in July 2008. Its an interesting situation where the US and India have been pressurising Pakistan on Hafiz Saeed, and in the past the TTP has openly talked of assasinating Saeed. And now we have a US operative with links to the TTP, tasked by the CIA to assasinate Saeed. The cat is finally out of the bag”, added the intelligence official.