UK Guardian Newspaper claims Raymond Davis is CIA Spy.

An article in the Guardian newspaper claims that Raymond Davis the American charged with killing two Pakistanis in Lahore is a CIA agent. This is hardly surprising but the article provides some confirmation of what many have suspected all along. The U.S. has been dispatching so many operatives to Pakistan that there was at one time another diplomatic standoff as Pakistanis were holding up the issuance of visas. Presumably they suspected that many being issued were not for genuine diplomatic activity and they were asking for more details. They were probably quite correct.

The Obama administration has insisted that Davis is an administrative and technical official attached to the U.S. consulate in Lahore. No doubt this is his cover. However there are issues about whether he was on a list of personnel with diplomatic immunity before the killings or if his name was added afterward!

The Guardian claims that based on interviews in Pakistan and the U.S. that it confirmed that Davis, who was formerly a special forces soldier, is employed by the CIA. A senior Pakistani intelligence officia said:"It's beyond a shadow of a doubt".This revelation if true could complicate the situation.

Although Davis claims he shot in self defense to avoid being robbed he managed to fire ten shots even shooting one man in the back as he fled.A senior police official involved told the Guardian:"It went way beyond what we define as self-defence. It was not commensurate with the threat," The Pakistani government is aware of Davis CIA status according to the Guardian but has kept quiet in the face of U.S. pressure.

President Barack Obama described Davis as "our diplomat" and dispatched h Senator John KerryJohn Kerry, to Islamabad. Kerry returned home empty-handed. The Pakistani government is facing a huge backlash from the incident and could face massive demonstrations if Davis is sent to the U.S. If he does have diplomatic status the U.S. is entitled to have him return to the U.S. However no one seems to bother to mention that if the U.S. wished it could waive this right.

The Pakistani government claims it needs until 14 March to decide whether Davis enjoys immunity. The situation is further complicated by the fact that a third man was killed by a U.S. embassy vehicle that sped to the scene of the killings. Pakistani official believe that they were also CIA operatives since they came from the house where Davis lived and were armed.

The U.S. has refused to let Pakistani police interview the two men involved. There are reports they are already back in the U.S. A senior Pakistani intelligence official said:"They have flown the coop, they are already in America," he said.

The U.S. has been silent on what Davis actual job was. Davis had served in U.S. special forces for 10 years but left in 2003 to become a security contractor. A senior Pakistani official said he believed that Davis had worked with Xe formerly Blackwater.

The equipment found in Davis' car raised suspicions about his job. He had an unlicensed Glock pistol, a long range radio, a GPS device, an infrared torch and a camera with photos of building around Lahore.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said:"This is not the work of a diplomat. He was doing espionage and surveillance activities," He added that he had "confirmation" that Davis was a CIA employee.

Apparently a number of U.S. media outlets have known about Davis' CIA but kept quiet about. According to the Guardian this is at the request of the Obama administration.A Colorado television station, 9NEWS, made a connection after speaking to Davis's wife. She referred its inquiries to a number in Washington which turned out to be the CIA. The station removed the CIA reference from its website at the request of the US government.

The incident is far from over. The U.S. is insistent that Davis be returned to the U.S. but this could provoke a crisis in Pakistan and demonstrations of the sort that are now endemic in many countries. Of course the Guardian article is based upon interviews with anonymous sources in many cases and they could be wrong but the evidence of the materials found in Davis' car and other circumstances such as visits to the tribal areas would seem to make it likely that the Guardian is correct.