PAKISTAN: Demonstrators burn U.S. flag in protest against release by Pakistani court of U.S. national, Raymond Davis who killed two Pakistani men

Record ID: 321458

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Demonstrators burn U.S. flag in protest against release by Pakistani court of U.S. national, Raymond Davis who killed two Pakistani men
  • Date: 18th March 2011
  • Summary: KARACHI, PAKISTAN (MARCH 17, 2011) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNER AND PARTY FLAGS MARCHING AND CHANTING "ANY FRIEND OF AMERICA IS A TRAITOR" PROTESTERS CHANTING "GO AWAY AMERICANS, PAKISTAN IS OURS" PROTESTERS CHANTING "GOD IS GREATEST" PROTESTERS MARCHING PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNERS THAT READS "HANG RAYMOND DAVIS" AND "O RULERS, GET RID OF THE SLAVERY OF TERRORIS
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADTK40O0WL5AA2YMMF5UCMSGXE
  • Story Text: Noisy protests against the release of a CIA contractor continued in Pakistani cities on Thursday (March 17), after the U.S national was acquitted of two murder charges by a Pakistani court and flown out of country on previous day.
    Thirty-six-year-old Raymond Davis shot dead two Pakistanis in broad daylight in the eastern Punjab city of Lahore on January 27 after what he described as an attempted armed robbery.
    The United States had repeatedly called for his release, saying he had diplomatic immunity.
    Davis was acquitted of two murder charges and released by a Pakistani court on Wednesday (March 16) after a deal to pay "blood money" to the victims' families, Pakistani and U.S. officials said.
    Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told Reuters the court indicted Davis in the murder case but later acquitted him when the families told the court they had accepted the blood money and had pardoned him.
    The deal, reached just hours after the American contractor had been indicted,a long-simmering diplomatic standoff between Pakistan and the United States.
    Protests started hours after the release of Davis and Thursday saw countrywide demonstrations in a nation where anti-U.S sentiments run high.
    Hundreds of angry protesters shouted slogans and burned down U.S flag and Davis' effigy in Pakistan's commercial hub Karachi.
    "Any friend of America is traitor", the demonstrators shouted.
    "This decision (of releasing Davis) was a pro-America decision and not pro-Pakistan. Thus, we are out on streets, people are out on streets. We will compel the government that it should get rid of U.S slavery, get out of the U.S clamp and take decisions in favour of the nation," said Mohammad Hussain Mehnati, a senior leader of Jamat-e-Islami, a major Islamic party in the country.
    About four hundred burqa-clad women supporters of Jamat-e-Islami also protested in Karachi.
    More than hundred supporters of religious parties shouted slogans outside a well guarded U.S consulate in the eastern city of Lahore.
    Dozens others protested in the capital Islamabad. They threatened to agitate against the Pakistani government for allowing a foreign killer to get away so easily.
    A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said Davis was quickly flown out of Pakistan. Despite the reported payment of the "blood money," he insisted there had been "no quid pro quo." He declined to elaborate.
    A U.S. national security official closely monitoring the Davis case and who declined to be identified said that if the Pakistani government paid the compensation they likely will seek reimbursement from the U.S. government.
    The case became a major test of ties between the United States and Pakistan, a vital ally in the U.S.-led campaign against Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
    More protests were planned in all major cities later in the day.
    Analysts say Pakistan's government faced the risk of a backlash and some groups in Pakistan could use the case to their advantage.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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