{EOP}No Drone Strike Haunt Pakistan Since Davis Arrest....

 {EOP} Exclusive Report..........

Whether it is a deliberate US policy or a mere pleasant coincidence but not a single drone attack has hit the country since January 27, when the American killer Raymond Davis was arrested in Lahore after he killed two young men. 

The last attack was carried out on January 23 and so far over 2,000 people have been killed in such attacks since 2004. 

The American Embassy spokesperson, Courtney Beale when contacted said that the embassy does not speak on security issues therefore she did not have any comment on the drone attacks’ stoppage after the Davis issue. 

The Conflict Monitoring Centre, an independent research centre which monitors the drone attacks, confirmed that there have been no drone attacks since Raymond Davis was arrested. According to the CMC report there were 11 drone attacks reported during January 2011, killing 49 people. At least 10 people were also wounded in these attacks. All the drone attacks were carried out in North Waziristan Agency of the Fata. No significant militant casualty was reported during the month. 

January had otherwise been a busy month for the drones as five attacks were carried out. The New Years day was the deadliest as the dawn of 2011 brought death for 19 people while ten people sustained injuries. The attack targeted a house while the second struck the rescue workers on the spot. Two other drone attacks separately hit two vehicles in the area. 

January 23 was the second deadliest day of the month when 13 people were killed in three different drone attacks. In the first and second strike, a drone hit a vehicle and a motorcycle, respectively. In another strike, an alleged militant compound and a vehicle were targeted. 

NOTE:

The US media have been uncritically quoting the State Department as saying that Pakistan is “violating” the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 by holding Davis in jail on murder charges. Those reporters should check the actual document.

Section II, Article 41 of the treaty, in its first paragraph regarding the “Personal inviolability of consular officers,” states: 

“Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority.”

In other words, the prosecutorial, police and judicial authorities in Lahore and the state of Punjab are doing exactly what they are supposed to do in holding Davis on murder charges, pending a judicial determination concerning whether or not he can properly claim diplomatic immunity.

Davis has so far not said why he was driving, heavily armed, without anyone else in his vehicle, in a private rental car in a business section of Lahore where foreign embassy staff would not normally be seen. He is reportedly remaining silent and is leaving all statements to the US Embassy.