The blame game

The involvement of ISI in Davis’s exit would make any role played by the central government less significant.

In his first public statement on the Davis affair, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said no single institution should be blamed for the CIA operative’s rapid exit from the country, after the payment of US$2.3 million as blood money. Mr Gilani’s comments come as the game of blame over the Davis release continues. The central government has been accused of working out the agreement while ministers in the Punjab set-up claim they played no role — even though this sounds extremely unlikely. It is hard to imagine the actual run to freedom with Mr Davis could have been rehearsed a day earlier, (as reported by this newspaper) without the Punjab government in the know about the cars speeding away from Kot Lakhpat Jail towards the airport or the preparatory activities on at the jail. It is foolish to try and deceive people on this count.

The prime minister’s statement appears chiefly to be an effort to deflect some pressure from the ISI, which, it appears, was involved in the crucial negotiations with the CIA that brought about the final deal. It has been suggested that, in return, the ISI may have extracted its own price, with talk of specific concessions involving action in northern regions and extensions in the tenure of key officials. From what we know of the ISI’s workings, the involvement of the agency would make any role played by the central government less significant. If the two young men shot dead by Raymond Davis were indeed agency operatives, the ISI involvement in the matter becomes all the more comprehensible. This could also account for their influence with the families of the victims.

Individuals, notably former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and political parties such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, continue to demand the truth be disclosed. This is unlikely to happen. The ISI is hardly likely to come to a sudden decision to reform itself and take people into confidence on what it has been doing. The prime minister is right when he says no single institution is involved. And with Davis now many miles away, this is where the issue will need to remain.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2011.