Adil Najam
The funny part – probably the only funny part – of the entire Raymond Davis fiasco is US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton claiming that “the United States did not pay any compensation” or ‘blood money’ to secure the release of CIA operative Raymond Davis (who had earlier killed two Pakistanis in Lahore and caused the death of at least another two) under the Sharia Law provision of ‘diyat.’ Reminds one of her husband, Bill Clinton’s, famous line that he had smoked marijuana but did not “inhale.”
Not as funny for some, including Ms. Clinton (who, like her husband is also a well trained lawyer and does not inhale), is the fact that whether the US paid it directly or had some fixer of choice – maybe the Saudis (although they deny it) – to pony up the cash it was an arcane and less than endearing provision in Sharia Law that saved this CIA agent’s skin (see images above of court documents, based on Sharia law, detailing the deal and distribution of blood money along Sharia stipulates, paid to victims families – whether by the US or not, but certainly on its behalf).
One wonder’s how all the red state legislatures voting to outlaw Sharia Law in the United States will react to that little factoid.
Personally, I do not find this funny at all: As I suggested yesterday the precedent being set here – on diplomacy, on diyat and blood money, and just for the respect of law – is one that both the US and Pakistan will live to regret.
But so be it. Right now, it is being said that the the family of the third person killed (trampled by a US Consulate car) has also received a hefty payment and possibly US citizenship. Similar Sharia deals were stuck on the US’s behalf with the families of two who Raymond Davis had shot. The nature and structure of these blood money deals with the families are laid out in the court documents above (from Cafe Pyala, where I first saw these). In the case of Faizan Haider’s family, the distribution of Diyat blood money comes to Rs. 100,000,002 (equivalent to US$1.166 Million); reportedly, the same deal was stuck with the family of the other person killed.
According to Cafe Pyala, the distribution is as follows:
Faizan Haider’s Mother: Rs. 33,333,333/-
Faizan Haider’s Wife: Rs.25,000,000/-
Faizan Haider’s Brother No.1: Rs. 7,575,758/-
Faizan Haider’s Brother No.2: Rs. 7,575,758/-
Faizan Haider’s Brother No.3: Rs. 7,575,758/-
Faizan Haider’s Sister No.1: Rs. 3,787,879/-
Faizan Haider’s Sister No.2: Rs. 3,787,879/-
Faizan Haider’s Sister No.3: Rs. 3,787,879/-
Faizan Haider’s Sister No. 4: Rs. 3,787,879/-
Faizan Haider’s Sister No. 5: Rs. 3,787,879/-
I am afraid that unsavory intended as well as unintended consequence of that bargain will soon engulf both in even more headaches.
Here is a parting question for those who may be US citizens and tax-payers: Will the man who sometimes goes by the name of Raymond Davis reimburse the US taxpayers for the reportedly over US$2.25 million paid under Sharia law to save his skin?
Bohot buree baat hoee yeh. He’s a criminal
@Adil Najam:
If “Sister Wives” (TLC reality show) family is taken to court of law and all the way to US Supreme Court, i’m sure Polygamy will also be allowed in USA.
Red state legislators will see another Sharia Law implemented.
Sad,Depressing,shameful decision of a weak country.Raymond’s list of crime include more than the murder of 2 innocent boys.
What we telling the world from this … read Below
“AHHH !!! If u have 200 Million Rs to pay as Blood Money, you can kill / Murder any 4 us.
Read more…
I want to get Killed / Slaughtered / Murdered same Like Faizan, Faheem or Ibad in hands of any American CIA Agent like (Mr. Raymond Davis, aka Rahman Davis aka now as Mahman Davis) so that in return my family could get (200 Million Rs. & American Passport) as my Blood Money) This is what i also want now Plz Mr. Muntor help me in this regard and send some one like (Mr. Mahman Davis) for me as well
Blood money in this case is NOT relevant. I don’t know what happened to our scholars. When cases were brought before Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) involving one non-Muslim party, he handed down punishment if the non-Muslim party were found guilty based on THEIR OWN tradition/law, not according to the Muslim tradition. So Davis, being non-Muslim, while could not, and should not, have been punished under the normally harsh ISLAMIC laws, could also NOT enjoy the benefits when convenient to him. If non-Muslims deserve Islamic judgement, then any American caught doing Zenaa’ (relations out of wedlock) or drinking or narcotics, must also be punished according to Shariah law — I’m sure John Kerry would not come to Pakistan asking for a Shariat penalty for such an American!
But let’s not be so naiive. Davis was up to something much bigger than ordinary spying. Analysts suspect that he was, among several others, trying to establish a link between Lashkari Tayyibah (declared by Umreeka a terrorist organization) and the ISI. I’m sure the ISI knew this very well, and were shadowing Davis, who got frustrated and finally took it out upon the agents constantly pestering him by following him around.
He was part of a mission, IMHO, led by the [not so] Honourable Hillary Clinton to set the stage for a major military attack on Pakistan after declaring to the world that ISI was, in effect, a terrorist organization involved in the Mumbai attack. That would explain Hillary’s visceral involvement in the case, and I think she impelled John Kerry with some effort, to visit us in Pak. John normally isn’t so gung ho like Hillary is, and maybe, just maybe, deep within, he feels remorse, and used by her. Hillary, you would know, is a high profile benefactor [read missionary] of the AIPAC, and therefore, by extrapolation, of the Mossad.
Such links to terrorism were implicity or explicitly declared in case of Iraq’s Elite Republican Guard, which were Saddam’s most loyal forces before the invasion, and explicitly by Condi Rice and Secy. Paulson against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2007. That attack against Iran (plan of which was exposed by late American journalist Seymour Hersh and US military defector Scott Ritter) hasn’t happened yet, possibly because of their missiles that can reach Tel Aviv, or that there is limited access to their top power structure and scant human intelligence. But Pakistan is ripe for an easy victory – a cakewalk by comparison to Iraq. Our current rulers might even invite the American military to secure their exit abroad (to sheild them from the public’s outrage) while the Americans occupy Islamabad’s govt. offices, and build an embassy in Islamabad even bigger than the mega complex in Baghdad.