Davis fallout: ISI-CIA ties in jeopardy!

Pakistan's premier spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence has hardened its stance against the US Central Intelligence Agency following the Raymond Davis incident in Lahore on January 27.

While the US official confessed to shooting dead two men in Lahore, allegedly in self-defence, a third Pakistani was struck and killed by another vehicle that was reportedly racing to Davis' aid.

ISI sources have confirmed that Davis, who is currently under detention in Lahore, had links to the CIA, and said that the conduct of the US intelligence agency around the incident has 'virtually thrown the partnership into question'.

"Irrespective of the commonality of objective in the war on terror, it is hard to predict if the relationship will ever get back to the level it was prior to the Davis episode. The onus of not stalling the relationship between the two agencies now squarely lies on the CIA," The Nation quoted them, as saying.

They also dispelled the allegations that the ISI was protecting and relocating the Haqqanis as "complete insinuation".

"Such stories, to the best of our knowledge, are leaked to the media with the

connivance of the CIA and it's regrettable that the CIA leadership on many occasions failed to show respect to the relationship between the two agencies and acted in arrogance towards the ISI, which has only resulted in weakening the relationship," said the sources.

"It is unfortunate that the CIA leadership fails to understand that the ISI works and will continue to work for national interest regardless of the CIA's stance," they added.

Responding to a question, the sources said that the CIA's "outdated approach of exerting pressure is counterproductive and will result in isolation of the CIA in an operational environment where its performance has been found wanting. This approach has offered more questions than answers."

The sources also rejected the perception that information about the drone targets was being provided by Pakistan to the CIA, and that drone strikes came to a halt following the Davis episode because Pakistan had stopped providing them information about targets.

They insisted that these attacks came under "an autonomous CIA operation, and Pakistan or the ISI has never provided any target information for drone strikes."