Need for firm stand

While the evidence that had come out in the open till recently indicated that Raymond Davis was not even an official of the US government, suddenly Interior Minister Rehman Malik has bought the American Embassy’s story that he holds a diplomatic passport. At the same time, President Zardari gives a warning to those who are “playing politics” with this case to beware of the consequences for the country that might accrue from their stance. These two statements clearly suggest that Washington’s pressure is finally working and the government is poised to shift its position.The issue involving the murder of Pakistani citizens, grave as it is and emotive as it has rightly become, has electrified the entire nation. The friends and relatives of the murdered young men are being supported by the various opposition parties, including religio-political parties, in their justifiable demand that the accused should be shown no quarter, tried under the Anti-Terrorism Act and brought to book. They have claimed that they had been offered hefty monetary compensations and attractive incentives laced with threats for rejecting them, but they were determined to avenge the deaths of their dear ones. Beside, they have been voicing their concern about the police and other intelligence agencies investigating the case apparently trying to favour the accused, not recording their statements and pursuing the case in a manner that would ultimately result in the letting off of the US national. They have denied the news report that they were ready to swap Davis with Dr Afia Siddiqui on the score that the nature of the two cases were poles apart, one innocently implicated and the other who committed murder in broad daylight. The Tehrik-e-Insaf staged a rally on Thursday, but those who intended taking out a protest march and besiege the American Consulate in Lahore were stopped from proceeding – Nation