The days of miracles are not yet over and imponderables do happen and the tension ridden Raymond Davis episode is one of them. Raymond Davis flight to freedom is no better than a Fukushima for Pakistan. It was a no win situation for the country with all lost and no gain; in terms of loss of justice, loss of self-respect and sovereignty. Raymond Davis is gone and nothing will bring him back; hence the legality about his release or otherwise at this point in time is an exercise in futility. Who is this man Raymond Davis? All the hype created by the Americans on his arrest makes it obligatory on us to probe into his background. Raymond Davis was member of a private military security agency on contract with the CIA for services with the State Department and Pentagon; Davis was assigned to Pakistan and the purpose of his visit was shown as official; the State Department and the Embassy declined to divulge the nature of his job in Pakistan; he was posted in the American Consulate in Lahore as an administrative consultant; while on the strength of the Lahore Consulate he visited North Waziristan nine to twelve times; Davis was fluent in Urdu and Pashto and had intimate contacts with the dissidents and saboteurs; Davis was being paid by the C.I.A. three times more than such other hired undercover agents like him. This background and ground realities leave no doubt that Davis was assigned on some special mission. What was this special mission and why the Americans went berserk on the arrest of one of their hired security agent is an enigma that reveals a lot. The US opposed Pakistans going nuclear from the very beginning; they tried to persuade, intimidate and even imposed sanctions to get Pakistan to abandon the venture but it stood firm and exploded the device. For reasons best known to the Americans Pakistans nuclear arsenal haunts them; they are desperate to somehow capture or destroy it. The Americans planned to create a breakdown of law and order and destabilize Pakistan to convince the world that it is unstable and cannot look after and safeguard its nuclear assets from falling into the hands of the Jehadis. Preliminaries of this task to destabilize Pakistan was initially assigned to Blackwater Worldwide, now operating in the name of X-e Services LLC as well. Later Raymond Davis was also inducted to work independent of Blackwater but for the same objective. In the course of his dubious activities he murdered two Pakistanis in cold blood on Jan 27, 2011 in Lahore. Classic sensitive tools of the spy trade like a G-Iock, automatic pistol, long-range wireless set, GSP, small telescope and a packet of 'niswar were recovered from his car. The U.S. and Pakistan were both under intense pressure for their own reasons due to 'Davis detention. It is futile to enumerate them here. For the US, the most vital point was that a prolonged detention or conviction had the possibility of spilling the beans about their covert underground activities being conducted to destabilize Pakistan with an eye on Pakistans nuclear arms. For Pakistan, it was internal pressure for self-respect and the undermining of their sovereignty. The government also feared that in the absence of US monetary assistance and with no IMF and World Bank cooperation it they will not be able to present the coming budget. In short, for both the countries it was a pressure game. From day one when Raymond Davis was apprehended, all pressure that the US government could harness and mount was directed at Pakistan for his immediate release; President Obama, Secretary Clinton, State Department and the CIA fretted to get the accused released; Senator John Kerry, the powerful Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee made a 48-hour dash to Pakistan to soften its stand. In his sedate arguments he discreetly hinted that failing to release Raymond Davis the American monitary help already pledged may even be put on hold; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cancelled a scheduled meeting in Munich with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan; The State Department cancelled the trilateral dialogue scheduled for the third week of February and also indicated the possibility of indefinite deferment of the exchange of the bilateral visits of the heads of states of the two countries, scheduled during the current year. The 'D day drama of March 16, 2011, is also significant. At the outset of the proceedings, the court indicted the accused with the charge sheet. As this was underway, the heirs of the victims along with their new counsel appeared before the court and presented an affidavit of accepting blood money and having pardoned the accused. This was a somersault from their earlier stand of justice and no blood money. The court had to accept the pardon. The court showed exceptional haste in giving a verdict on the illegal weapons case and awarded a suspended jail term of 48 days effective from the day of his arrest till the rising of the court and a nominal fine that Davis immediately paid. It is necessary to point out here that it was not the act but the crime that should have been kept in mind while awarding the punishment. Anyhow Raymond Davis was immediately released and taken to a US aircraft waiting for him at Lahore airport since the previous night. He was straightaway flown out of Pakistan despite his name being on the ECL. All this confirms that it was the result of some deal. The USA got their man freed and Pakistan got a moral victory, if you call it so, as the Americans had to give up their original stand of diplomatic immunity. As mentioned earlier in this article, nothing will bring Raymond Davis back, so let us accept it as a done thing and close this chapter. The US and the government here were both under intense pressure to somehow close this chapter, and that is now closed with Davis flying out after paying Diyat. It would be an academic exercise to find answers to questions like what was the amount paid, who paid it, how it was distributed amongst the heirs of the victims and who played what part in organizing this deal. Let us not make any speculation. With no legal background I would refrain to go into any details of the how and why of the court judgement but I have certain simple observations to make about Diyat itself. The blood money has been paid and accepted but there are certain Islamic injunctions about Diyat which must be fulfilled before this concession is applied to the accused. Legalities apart, there are certain lacunas in the payment of Diyat as envisaged by the Shariat. These are: Firstly, the accused has to confess the crime before the Diyat concession is applied. Secondly, the Diyat or blood money is paid by the accused himself or his close relatives. Thirdly, Diyat is paid to the family of the victim or his parents and not to other relatives. Fourthly, Diyat is applicable in a simple murder case but the Shariat law of Diyat is not applicable to offences that fall under the category of Fassad-fil-Arz. Fifthly, the body of the Shariat law on Diyat must either be accepted or rejected in toto and so on and so forth. In the case of Raymond Davis, it appears that none of the Diyat Shariat injunctions have been met. According to Shariat the concession of blood money is applicable only in case of a simple murder and the accused having admitted his guilt. Diyat is not applicable where the crime falls under the category of Fassad-fil-Arz. The case of Raymond Davis was a proven case of Fassad, being an undercover spy agent and involved in contraband subversive activities against the state of Pakistan. It is no use to cry over the spilt milk now. The accused was released by the court on the 'pardon affidavit of the heirs of the victims but without looking into the legalities of the application of the Diyat concessions. Apparently, it was all part of the deal. Raymond Davis is free and out of Pakistan, leaving behind a trail of ambiguous and confused tales that would be heard for a long time to come. However, all said and done, the somersault of the heirs of the victims in accepting the blood money proved what the Attorney General of USA once said, and we did not like it then, that Pakistanis can sell their mother for ten dollars. The writer is former A. D. C. to the Quaid-e-Azam