Davis is not the first American involved in killing incident
By Sabir Shah
Monday, January 31, 2011
LAHORE: Raymond Davis is the second US official involved in a killing incident in Pakistan in less than eight months after a narcotics officer at the American Embassy in Islamabad had rammed his car into a Cabinet Division peon, sending the poor man to his eternal abode within hours after he had gone into a coma in June 2010.
The lower-rank government employee Muhammad Yameen, resident of Block 106, Sector G-10/3, Islamabad, was struck at D-Chowk, near the Parliament House at Islamabad's Constitution Avenue, by the US narcotics officer's speedy vehicle IDM 6613. Though the guilty official had brought the critically injured Yameen to the Polyclinic Hospital himself, the 50-year old wounded peon soon succumbed injuries.
The US Embassy officials had then managed to avoid the initiation of any legal action against their colleague under the garb of diplomatic immunity, but not before the Secretariat Police Station House Officer Hakim Khan had confirmed the tragic event to the media men.
To refresh the memories, a First Information Report bearing Number 92 was registered against the US diplomat Mike under Sections 320/279, after an application filed by the deceased Muhammad Yameen's son at the Secretariat police station.
Spokesman for US Embassy, Richard Snelsire, had termed it a tragic incident though. This was the third such incident within just 10 days in May/June 2010, when the officials of the US Embassy were found guilty of over-speeding, careless driving or display of arms.
Overall, the US and other foreign diplomats have not had a very pleasant time in Pakistan since November 21, 1979 at least, when the US Embassy in Islamabad was set ablaze by enraged Pakistani students, who were infuriated over rumours that the US had bombed the Holy Masjid al-Haram at Mecca a day earlier. There actually had been a terrorist attack at Mecca, but the US was not involved in it as a Saudi Arabian Islamic zealot group had led a takeover of the Holy Mosque.
Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini had then immediately claimed that Americans were behind the attack on Islam's holiest place.
The US diplomats had survived by hiding in a reinforced area, though Marine Security Guard Steve Crowley and another American died in the attack.
In 1988, the then US Ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Raphel, had perished in a plane crash on August 17, 1988.
He was travelling in a C-130 Hercules aircraft with the then Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq and the likes of General Akhtar Abdur Rehman, after witnessing a US M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur.
Overall, 31 people had died in this plane crash. General Herbert Wassom, the head of the US military aid mission to Pakistan, was also among the dead.
Just two years later on December 19, 1990, Sadeq Ganji, the then Iranian Consul General to Pakistan, was killed by militants for allegedly propagating the Shia sect's ideology. It was then speculated that the assassination of Ganji was a revenge for the killing of a militant Haq Nawaz Jhangvi earlier that year.
Sadiq Ganji, accompanied by his companion Muhammad Mukarram, was fatally injured in front of the International Hotel at Upper Mall Lahore. His killer, who had fled the scene, was caught in an injured condition at the Mozang Chungi, the same place where US official Raymond Davis had shot two Pakistanis dead recently.
Much-feared extremist Riaz Basra was also implicated in this case and was tried in absentia.
In 1997, a few visiting Iranian Air Force cadets were gunned down in Islamabad.
On March 17, 2002, a US diplomat Barbara Green and her 17-year-old daughter had lost their lives, when a grenade was tossed into the International Protestant Church Islamabad during a church service. Five people were killed in this attack and 40 injured, mostly expatriates.
On June 14, 2002, an explosives-laden truck had detonated outside the US Consulate in Karachi, killing 12 Pakistanis and injuring 51.
On February 28, 2003, unknown gunmen attacked the US Embassy in Islamabad, killing two people.
On March 15, 2004, there was another attempt to blow up a stolen van in front of the consulate. When the police questioned the driver of the parked van he claimed that the van had broken down. The police investigated the van and discovered a large blue tank filled with nearly 200 gallons of liquid explosives hooked up to a timer and two detonators. The device was deactivated and the plot failed.
A Kazakh diplomat, Sapargali Aubakirov, was shot dead at his home in Islamabad on January 19, 2005. The deputy head of the Kazakh mission in Islamabad was found lying in a pool of blood at his house with a single gunshot wound to the head.
According to one newspaper report, the Central Asian diplomat was found sprawled on his sofa, with empty bottles of liquor and four partly eaten hamburgers lying on a nearby table.
According to The News/Jang, two Chinese men Hassan s/o Abdul Hamid and Mohammad Ibrahim s/o Abdullah were arrested in connection with this murder. The police had seized the diplomat's cell phone and a pistol from the two arrested killers.
On March 2, 2006, just hours before the arrival of the then US President George Bush in Pakistan, a car bomb had exploded outside the US Consulate in Karachi, killing four people.
According to BBC News, David Foy, an American diplomat and three Pakistanis were among those who lost their lives in the incident. The bomb had left a two-metre crater in the car park of the Marriott Hotel and destroyed at least 10 cars.
AFP had then quoted President Bush as saying from New Delhi, "Terrorists and killers are not going to prevent me from going to Pakistan. My trip to Pakistan is an important trip."
An American diplomat Keith Ryan was found dead in his Islamabad home after he had apparently committed suicide. Ryan had worked for the US Homeland Security, responsible for protecting America from possible terror attacks.
Ryan's body was discovered from his bathroom, a gunshot wound on the temple and a pistol was found nearby, BBC and AFP had reported.
Keith Ryan was due to return to the US shortly, after completing his tenure in Islamabad. This was the first time such an incident involving a US diplomatic official had occurred in Pakistan.
In March 2008, a restaurant frequented by Westerners in Islamabad was bombed, killing one and seriously injuring several others, including four US diplomats.
In August 2008, the US Principal Officer in Peshawar was the target of an organised gun attack.
The Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing, that occurred on September 20, 2008, killed at least five foreign nationals besides injuring 15 others. The majority of the casualties were Pakistanis though.
While two American military personnel and a Danish intelligence agent were killed, a US State Department employee had also gone missing and hence presumed dead. In addition, six Germans, four Britons and a Filipino receptionist from the hotel were among the injured foreigners.
The Czech ambassador to Pakistan, Dr. Ivo Zdarek, had also died in the ensuing fire along with his Vietnamese companion.
Although the Czech envoy had survived the initial blast, he died while helping in the rescue efforts aimed at saving those trapped inside the hotel.
A dump truck filled with explosives had detonated in front of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, killing at least 54, injuring at least 266 and leaving a 60-foot wide crater outside the hotel.
The Marriott attack had occurred just hours after President Asif Zardari had made his first speech to Parliament.
On November 12, 2009, gunmen shot dead Syed Abul Hasan, the spokesman for the Iranian consulate in Peshawar. The deceased was serving as Director Public Relations in the Iranian consulate. Chinese News Agency Xinhua reported that Hasan was fired upon at Gulbarg area of Peshawar.
On November 13, 2008, unidentified gunmen had abducted an Iranian diplomat, Hashmatullah Attarzadeh, after killing his security guard in Peshawar.
The kidnapping had occurred a day after an American aid worker and his local driver were shot dead in the troubled northwest city.
It is pertinent to note that in 2008, and as the US State Department has also pointed out, one Iranian and two Afghan diplomats, two Chinese engineers, and a Polish engineer were kidnapped in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
On April 5, 2010, an attack near the US Consulate in Peshawar had killed two consulate security guards and at least six others.
Other key incidents targeting foreigners during the last one decade include the kidnapping and killing of US Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl in January 2002.
In March 2002, 11 French technicians were killed in Karachi.
On November 12, 2008, an American working for a non-government organisation was also shot dead in Peshawar along with his driver.
In February 2009, a US UNHCR official was kidnapped in Balochistan for ransom.
The memories of the March 2009 attack on the bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore would still be fresh in the minds of the cricket-loving Pakistanis. About half a dozen security personnel/traffic wardens were killed in this incident, which had also tragically marked the end of international cricket fixtures in Pakistan.
In October 2009 attack on the World Food Programme headquarters Islamabad had resulted in serious injury to a US official. We all know that a good number of Chinese engineers have already been abducted and killed in this country in recent times.
