Detainee in Pakistan is a CIA contractor

ISLAMABAD – The U.S. citizen who shot to death two motorcyclists in the eastern city of Lahore last month works with the CIA, Pakistani and U.S. officials said Monday – a revelation that could further aggravate anti-American sentiment within the Islamic nation and complicate Washington’s efforts to secure his release.

Pakistani authorities said they learned of Raymond Davis’ links with the CIA after his arrest on charges that he murdered two Pakistani men whom he claimed were trying to rob him at gunpoint, said a senior Pakistani intelligence official.

Until Monday, U.S. officials in Pakistan and Washington repeatedly fended off questions about Davis’ function in Islamabad, instead stating only that he was a member of the “technical and administrative staff” at the embassy in Islamabad and therefore is entitled to diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention of 1961.

After the Pakistani statements Monday, U.S. officials provided some information about Davis’ work in Pakistan. A senior U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity described Davis, a 36-year-old former Army Special Forces soldier, as a contractor with the CIA. Another U.S. official said Davis was a security officer providing protection to U.S. personnel, but was not running covert operations.

A U.S. official in Islamabad emphasized that Davis should receive protection from prosecution because he “was designated by our government as a member of the embassy’s technical and administrative staff.”

Worried about the potential for large-scale unrest that could erupt if Davis is released, Pakistani authorities have avoided making any definitive decisions on Davis’ claim of immunity and have put responsibility for the American’s fate in the hands of the country’s courts. Davis has been jailed since the Jan. 27 shootings.