Pakistan Officials Colluding With Militants? US Presents Evidence

By Nick Schifrin and Matthew Cole

The United States' attempts to regain trust in Pakistan's intelligence service suffered a blow in the last few weeks when the CIA gathered evidence that U.S. officials believe shows collusion between militants and Pakistani security officials.

During a visit to Islamabad on Friday, CIA Director Leon Panetta confronted the head of Pakistan's intelligence service, showing him satellite and other intelligence that the CIA believes is evidence of Pakistani security's efforts to help Islamic militants based in Pakistan, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.

According to the officials, Panetta revealed overhead imagery that showed two facilities where militants manufactured improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, which are commonly used by militants fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The "IED factories" were located in North and South Waziristan, where many militants are based.

The CIA passed intelligence in the past several weeks to their Pakistani counterparts, alerting them to the two facilities, but when Pakistani forces raided the facilities, the militants had disappeared.

In his meetings Friday, Panetta conveyed the CIA's belief that the militants had been warned by Pakistani security officials prior to the raids.

Panetta traveled to Islamabad just hours after his Congressional hearing to become secretary of defense, an unannounced trip that U.S. officials publicly described as a way to "discuss ways to improve cooperation." But behind the scenes, Panetta's visit -- expected to be his last as CIA chief -- underscored the lack of trust that U.S. officials continue to have in their Pakistani counterparts.

Since Osama bin Laden's death, senior U.S. officials have demanded that Pakistan prove that it intends to help crack down on terror networks within its own borders with concrete, specific steps.

Today, U.S. and Pakistani officials both admitted that the escape of militants making bombs for use against Americans in Afghanistan was a setback.

Pakistani officials made a rare admission that some kind of collusion was possible.

"There is a suspicion that perhaps there was a tip-off," a senior Pakistani official told the Washington Post. "It's being looked into by our people, and certainly anybody involved will be taken to task."

Pakistani officials contend that they are walking a thin line after the U.S. decided to launch a unilateral raid to kill bin Laden, balancing U.S. demands with a military rank and file that is furious and want their leaders to break with the U.S.

In a sign of just how angry the military is with the U.S., army officials have asked all but "a handful" of U.S. special operations soldiers who have been training Pakistani forces near the Afghan border for the last two years, according to two U.S. officials.

The number was as high as a few dozen in the past.

Courier Hid Osama Bin Laden Well

By Matthew Cole and Nick Schifrin

He was a man of many names. Arshad, Ahmed, Abu Ahmed to name a few. To his neighbors in Abbottabad, Pakistan, he was a friendly man from the country's tribal areas who worked as a money changer and built 12-foot walls to keep out the "many enemies" he'd acquired in the course of doing business.

What no one who lived near him in the sleepy, semi-rural enclave knew was that Arshad Khan was really al Qaeda operative Abu Ahmed al Kuwaiti, Osama bin Laden's most trusted courier, and his identity and location became the key to killing bin Laden.

Little is known about al Kuwaiti, but interviews with neighbors, Pakistani officials and U.S. officials make clear that the Kuwaiti-born Pakistani was for several years the second most-wanted terrorist in the world, if only because the CIA had become convinced he could led them to the al Qaeda leader.

Bin Laden, al Kuwaiti, al Kuwaiti's brother, one of Bin Laden's sons and a woman were killed early Monday morning when a team of Navy SEALs conducted a covert raid at the compound where bin Laden was living.

Until eight months ago, when al Kuwaiti was spotted in Peshawar and tracked back to the compound, the CIA knew his identity, but not where he lived.

One neighbor, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, told ABC News that he knew al Kuwaiti as Arshad Khan. He was a courteous, if not forthcoming, neighbor, heavyset by local standards, who could be seen driving his wife and children to town. The neighbor, who didn't own a car, said Arshad Khan often gave him rides into town.

"I would ask if I could have his mobile number," the neighbor said. "He said he didn't own a phone," and rarely answered other personal questions.

Even so, the neighbor said the man he knew as Arshad once explained that the compound's unusually high perimeter wall had been built because of the many enemies he'd acquired in the years he ran a money-changing business in Pakistan's Tribal Areas.

Al Kuwaiti was identified in 2003, U.S. officials said, as someone who would be trusted by bin Laden. He was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's protege and later the man who delivered a promotion from bin Laden to Abu Faraj al Libi, the al Qaeda operative who replaced Mohammed as the organization's number three leader.

Al Kuwaiti was tracked to the Abbottabad compound in 2010, after which the CIA determined that a high value target, possibly bin Laden, was living behind its walls. The main building included a terrace enclosed by a high wall on an upper floor, leading analysts to speculate it could be used to conceal a very tall man. Bin Laden was at least 6'4".

As details emerged about the daily habits of al Kuwaiti, including trips to the local bakery and mosque, Pakistani officials have conducted raids and arrests of people connected in any way to bin Laden's courier or the compound in which both bin Laden and the courier lived.

Among those taken into custody have been the man believed to have designed the secure complex and acted as the project's contractor when it was built in 2005. One Pakistani official named the man as Tahir Javed, though his identity could not be verified. Pakistani officials and local residents say the contractor has since been released.

Another person of interest is a major local landowner named Shamroz who owned several plots next to the bin Laden compound. Neighbors described Shamroz and his sons as the people who knew the al Qaeda courier and his family best. Shamroz and his two sons have reportedly been arrested.

Despite their interaction with the courier, however, none of the locals say they ever saw the man he was protecting outside the compound's walls. They say they had say they had no reason to suspect the world's most wanted man had lived among them for six years.

America's Most Wanted: Osama Bin Laden Killed After 13-Year Hunt

By Brian Ross, Matthew Cole and Avni Patel

The United States had been trying to kill Osama bin Laden for 13 years, since the administration of President Bill Clinton.

"Bin Laden has been our national enemy self declared for far longer than any one person in our history," said Richard Clarke, an ABC News contributor who served as a counterterrorism advisor to Clinton and both presidents Bush.

For years the trail had gone cold, some thought he had left the region and Pakistani officials even claimed bin Laden must be dead. In the end he was found in a house where he may have been living for as many as six years, almost next door to Pakistani military installations and less than 100 miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

The son of a prominent and wealthy Saudi family, bin Laden first went to Afghanistan to fight the Russians but then turned on the United States.

On his orders thousands died, in the 1998 attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa, in the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, and the 9/11 attacks of which he seemed so proud. Bin Laden boasted on tape that "We calculated in advance the number of casualties."

The discovery of bin Laden's hiding place in a million-dollar mansion in Pakistan was the result of a masterful CIA intelligence operation that focused on the courier who was his connection to the outside world.

"We had to piece it together," explained John Brennan, counterterrorism advisor to President Obama, "get [the courier's] nom de guerre, associate it with a real name and track it until we got to the compound."

Every video or audio message recorded by bin Laden went by courier, so each new message became an opportunity for the CIA to find him.

"That was his Achilles heel," said John Nagl, president of the Center for a New American Security and former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. "We were able to use the information provided by tracking his couriers to hunt him down and bring him to justice."

U.S. officials say detainees held at Guantanamo helped lead them to the courier.

In one early clue, according to a secret Pentagon cable made public by Wikileaks, senior Al Qaeda commander Abu al Libi told interrogators he became "the official messenger" for bin Laden and for a year in 2003 "moved his family to Abbottabad, Pakistan" -- the city near Islamabad where bin Laden was killed Sunday.

By August of last year, the CIA had a sharp focus on a newly built compound in the Abbottabad, suspicious of its large size and extensive security features, including a seven-foot wall on the terrace so the very tall bin Laden could be outside without being seen.

A family of the same size as bin Laden's was seen here, although bin Laden himself was never actually spotted.

But since August he had sent out, at least two new taped messages. One of them, remarkably, last October, focused on the severe flooding that had just occurred in the Abbottabad region.

Finding Osama Bin Laden

Bin Laden had long been said to be in the mountainous region along the Afghanistan, Pakistan border, hiding in a cave as the U.S. sought to kill him with drone strikes from above. Instead, he was in a house with many peculiar features that brought it to the attention of U.S. authorities.

After locating the Al Qaeda courier in 2009 and then tracking him to the structure in 2010, the CIA noted that the house, built in 2005, had high exterior walls topped with barbed wire, high windows and few points of access. Residents burned their trash instead of putting it out. U.S. officials wondered if the extra seven-foot-high wall on a third-floor terrace was built to shield a man as tall as bin Laden, whose height was estimated at between 6'4" and 6'6".

The CIA began to believe that a high-value target was in the house. A CIA "red team" assigned to assess the house decided that it could well be sheltering bin Laden, even though he'd never been seen in the compound.

The CIA was responsible for "finding" and "fixing" the target, said a U.S. official, and the military "finished" the job.

According to U.S. officials, the Navy's SEAL Team Six practiced the assault in a replica of the compound built inside the United States.

Late Sunday night local time, two U.S. helicopters from Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and carrying Team Six SEALs flew in low from Afghanistan and swept into the compound. As CIA director Leon Panetta listened in, the Navy SEALs stormed the compound and engaged bin Laden and his men in a firefight, killing bin Laden and all those with him.

Two Bin Laden couriers were killed, as was Osama Bin Laden's son Khalid and a woman. Two women were injured. Children were present in the compound but were not harmed. U.S. officials said that bin Laden was asked to surrender but did not. He was shot in the head and then shot again to make sure he was dead.

The raid began on the smaller of two buildings in the compound, where the couriers were believed to live. The raid then moved to the larger three-story building. The couriers were killed downstairs, while bin Laden was upstairs.

After the raid, blood covered the floor of one room to the right inside the sprawling larger structure. In another room to the left that held a small kitchenette, broken computers could be seen, minus their hard drives. The SEALs also recovered papers, CDs, laptops, which were taken away for analysis.

One of the U.S. Blackhawk helicopters was damaged but not destroyed during the operation, and U.S. forces elected to destroy it themselves with explosives. At least a dozen individuals who were present in the compound were left flex cuffed by the side of the road by the SEALs when they departed, according to a senior administration official.

The Americans took bin Laden's body into custody after the firefight, taking it back to Afghanistan by helicopter, and confirmed his identity. His DNA matched DNA taken from multiple bin Laden relatives with almost 100 percent certainty, and his body was found to be more than 6'4". He was also identified by two women at the compound after he was killed, and via facial recognition analysis from photos sent back to CIA headquarters.

A U.S. official said bin Laden was later buried at sea in accordance with Islamic practice at 2 a.m. Washington time. Bin Laden's body was taken to the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, a U.S. aircraft carrier in the North Arabian Sea, according to officials. His body was washed and wrapped in the prescribed way. A military officer read religious remarks that were translated by a native Arabic speaker before bin Laden's remains were sent into the deep.

Remarkably, bin Laden was hiding almost under the nose of the Pakistani military, which has a major garrison in Abbottabad and the Pakistani version of West Point. A senior U.S. official says the U.S. government believes that bin Laden may have been living in the house ever since it was built in 2005.

U.S. officials say Pakistan was not informed in advance of the military operation inside their borders. The U.S. team was back inside Afghanistan before 6 p.m. Washington time.

Jake Tapper and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

Navy SEALS Operation Details of Raid That Killed 9/11 Al Qaeda Leader

By Brian Ross, Matthew Cole and Avni Patel

It began with a tip to the CIA eight months ago about a possible Osama bin Laden hiding place, and led Sunday to the bold military operation that will go down in U.S. history, as Navy SEALs killed the Al Qaeda leader in a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan while he reportedly used women as human shields.

And the trail that ultimately led U.S. forces to Bin Laden may have begun with another 9/11 plotter who is now in U.S. custody, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, central to both the 9/11 plot and the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, was captured by U.S. forces and taken to Guantanamo. In 2007, U.S. officials who were interrogating Guantanamo detainees finally learned the real name of a former Khalid Sheikh Muhammad protégé who had become an important confidante of Abu Faraj al Libi. Al Libi was captured in 2005 and also taken to Guantanamo.

Guantanamo detainees identified the courier who had worked with both KSM and Al Libi as someone who was probably trusted by Bin Laden. Al Libi had actually lived in Abbottabad in 2003, according to his detainee file.

In 2007, U.S. officials learned the courier's real name. In 2009, they located his region of operation and began tracking him.

Osama Bin Laden wasn't hiding in a cave, but in a Pakistani city of 90,000 called Abbottabad, just north of the Pakistani capital.

In August 2010, through tracking the courier, they found that Osama Bin Laden probably wasn't hiding in a cave, but in a huge house in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, just north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. The acre-large, million-dollar compound had 12 to 18-foot walls, was eight times the size of other homes in the area and just off a major highway, but had no phones.

President Obama gave the order for a small team of U.S. Navy SEALs in Afghanistan to go in Sunday night Pakistan time, even though bin Laden had never once actually been seen in the compound.

"I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action," said President Obama in a nationally televised address Sunday night, "and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice."

Bin Laden, who had been pictured over the years firing an automatic weapon, and his son and three others opened fire on the U.S. raiders.

Said President Obama, "After a firefight, they killed Osama Bin Laden and took custody of his body."

Pentagon officials said that one way the SEALs were sure it was Osama Bin Laden was that his wife identified him by name.

None of the Americans was injured in the raid.

The U.S. team was on the ground for only 40 minutes, much of the time spent scrubbing the compound for information about al Qaeda and its future plans.

After the raid, blood covered the floor of one room inside the sprawling house on the right. In another room to the left that held a small kitchenette, broken computers could be seen, minus their hard drives

Remarkably, Bin Laden was hiding almost under the nose of the Pakistani military, which has a major garrison in Abbottabad and the Pakistani version of West Point.

U.S. officials say Pakistan was not informed in advance of the military operation inside their borders.

Finding Osama Bin Laden

Bin Laden had long been said to be in the mountainous region along the Afghanistan, Pakistan border, hiding in a cave as the U.S. sought to kill him with drone strikes from above. Instead, he was in a house with many peculiar features that brought it to the attention of U.S. authorities.

After locating the Al Qaeda courier in 2009 and then tracking him to the structure in 2010, the CIA noted that the house had high exterior walls topped with barbed wire, high windows and few points of access. Residents burned their trash instead of putting it out. Built in 2005, the compound also had a seven-foot-high wall on a third-floor terrace. U.S. officials wondered if the extra wall was meant to allow a tall man -- Bin Laden's height was estimated at between 6'4" and 6'6" -- to go outside without being seen.

The CIA began to believe that a high-value target was in the house. A CIA "red team" assigned to assess the house decided that it could well be sheltering Bin Laden, even though he'd never been seen in the compound.

The house looked like it was "custom-built to hide someone of significance," said an official. But the Americans did not share their information about who might be inside the compound with the Pakistanis, said Pentagon officials.

The CIA was responsible for "finding" and "fixing" the target, said a U.S. official, and the military "finished" the job.

According to U.S. officials, the Navy's SEALS Team Six practiced the assault in a replica of the compound built inside the United States.

Late Sunday night local time, two U.S. helicopters from Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and carrying Team Six SEALs flew in low from Afghanistan and swept into the compound. As CIA director Leon Panetta listened in, the Navy SEALs stormed the compound and engaged Bin Laden and his men in a firefight, killing Bin Laden and all those with him.

Two Bin Laden couriers were killed, as was Osama Bin Laden's son Khalid and a woman. U.S. officials said Bin Laden and the other men used the three women in the compound as human shields, and the woman who died was shielding Bin Laden. The other two women were injured. Children were present in the compound but were not harmed. U.S. officials said that Bin Laden himself fired his weapon during the fight, and that he was asked to surrender but did not. He was shot in the head and then shot again to make sure he was dead.

The raid began on the smaller of two buildings in the compound, where the couriers were believed to live. The raid then moved to the larger three-story building.

One of the U.S. Blackhawk helicopters was damaged but not destroyed during the operation, and U.S. forces elected to destroy it themselves with explosives.

The Americans took Bin Laden's body into custody after the firefight, taking it back to Afghanistan by helicopter, and confirmed his identity. His DNA matched DNA taken from mulitple relatives of Bin Laden with almost 100 percent certainty.

A U.S. official said Bin Laden was later buried at sea in accordance with Islamic practice at 2 a.m. Washington time. Bin Laden's body was taken to the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, a U.S. aircraft carrier in the North Arabian Sea, according to officials. His body was washed and wrapped in the prescribed way. A military officer read religious remarks that were translated by a native Arabic speaker before Bin Laden's remains were sent into the deep.

The original plan had called for the SEALs to rappel down into the compound, but because one of the choppers had a problem it had to do a soft crash landing.

According to Pakistani officials, the operation was a joint U.S.-Pakistani operation, but U.S. officials said only U.S. personnel were involved in the raid.

U.S. officials say that Pakistani fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the choppers, but didn't reach them. The U.S. team was back inside Afghanistan before 6 p.m Washington time.

Abbottabad is a city of 90,000 in the Orash Valley, north of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, and east of Peshawar. It is 90 miles by road from Islamabad and 40 miles by air.

Jake Tapper and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

Top Al Qaeda Commander Killed In Afghanistan

By MATTHEW COLE

A senior Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan was killed by a U.S. airstrike while he met with four other top insurgents, according to a statement from the U.S.-led military coalition, ending a four-year hunt.

Abu Hafs Al Najdi was killed in Kunar province during an April 13 airstrike, said the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) in a statement. According to the ISAF, "numerous other insurgents," including another Al Qaeda leader named Waqas, were also killed during the attack in Kunar's Dangam district, close to the Pakistani border.

Al Najdi, a Saudi citizen who also went by the name Abdul Ghani, was a key figure for Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization inside Afghanistan, according to the ISAF, and number two on the coalition's list of Al Qaeda targets.

Al Najdi was said to be responsible for "recruiting; training and employing fighters; obtaining weapons and equipment; organizing al Qaeda finances; and planning attacks against Afghan coalition forces," according to the coalition.

The Saudi commander was also said to be responsible for a December attack on a U.S. outpost last December. The statement did not say if any soldiers were injured in the attack.

Kunar province has seen some of the deadliest fighting for American soldiers since the Afghan war began in 2001. U.S. forces recently closed many of their outposts and bases in Kunar and neighboring Nuristan provinces because military officials believed the area was too remote to manage. Some reports have described a resurgence of Arab Al Qaeda fighters in Kunar and Nuristan since U.S. troops withdrew.

U.S. officials had stated as recently as last year that no more than 100 al Qaeda fighters operated in Afghanistan. In its statement announcing Al Nadji's death, the ISAF said he was one of "more than 25 al Qaeda leaders and fighters" who have been killed in Afghanistan in the past month.

'Blood Money' Deal Frees CIA Contractor Raymond Davis From Pakistan

By NICK SCHIFRIN, MATTHEW COLE, HABIBULLAH KHAN and LEE FERRAN

Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor held in Pakistan after a deadly shooting incident in January, was freed today and is on his way home, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.

Davis was released from detention after $2.4 million was paid to the families of the two men allegedly shot and killed by Davis, according to court documents.

In her first public statements since his arrest in January, Davis' wife Rebecca said her husband was "not a killer" but had been highly trained and she believed he was defending himself when the shooting occurred.

"I knew that he did what he had to do because he had to do it. It was kill or be killed," Rebecca Davis told CBS News' Denver affiliate CBS4. Davis' military record includes experience with the U.S. Special Forces and he was formerly employed by the private security firm Blackwater.

Officials told ABC News the families of the victims appeared in a Lahore court today to say that they have pardoned Davis. A U.S. official said it was a "Pakistani decision" to release him and he is no longer in the country.

Payment of money to the families of victims in crimes for securing acquittals for the accused has significant legal precedent in Pakistan, a custom loosely translated as paying "blood money."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters the U.S. did not pay any compensation directly to the victims' families, but a senior White House official told ABC News the U.S. government expects to "receive a bill for money paid to the families" and the administration plans on paying that bill.

"The families of the victims of the January 27 incident in Lahore have pardoned Raymond Davis," U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said in a statement. "I am grateful for their generosity. I wish to express, once again, my regret for the incident and my sorrow at the suffering it caused."

Davis has been in Pakistani detention since the Jan. 27 incident in which he allegedly shot and killed two men on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, who he said were attempting to rob him. Since his arrest, U.S. officials including President Barack Obama have repeatedly called for Davis' release, arguing he carried a diplomatic passport and was under the protection of diplomatic immunity.

Davis was identified only as a member of the "technical and administrative" staff of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad when he was arrested. It was revealed last month he was under contract from the CIA and had worked for Blackwater.

Munter said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting.

U.S. Did Not Deny Possibility of 'Blood Money' Negotiations

When asked about the possibility of paying blood money for Davis' release, former U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in February that officials were working "at every level of the government" to secure Davis' freedom and did not deny discussions about compensation had already taken place. One senior U.S. official told ABC News then that in such situations, payment is certainly a strategic consideration.

Last month family members of the victims told ABC News they would not accept money from the U.S. for Davis' release.

"Even if the U.S. gives us $10 million or $20 million, can my son come back?" the father of one of the victims said then. "This will be selling my son's blood which will be like deceiving the people and government... If we accept money, this will give them a way and they will keep killing people and paying money and thereby Pakistan will be sold and will be finished."

Under a pair of Pakistani statutes known as Qisas and Diyat, those accused of a crime, even major ones, may be set free without trial if they can produce acceptable compensation to the victim or the victim's family, said Pakistani law expert Paula Newberg of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

But, Newberg said, those laws are about compensation, not justice.

"In the current instance, it may be a way of removing Mr. Davis from the country," she said. "[But] as a mode of solving this kind of problem, it has the potential to set a very fuzzy precedent that does not meet the standards for justice in Pakistan or in the U.S."

ABC News' Jake Tapper and Clayton Sandell contributed to this report.

Pakistan Tried to Trade CIA Contractor for 'Lady al Qaeda'

By MATTHEW COLE

The government of Pakistan offered to trade a CIA contractor currently jailed in that country for a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected by U.S. intelligence to be an al Qaeda operative.

According to a senior American administration official and a Pakistani official involved in the negotiations to free CIA contractor Raymond Davis, the Pakistani government proposed trading Davis for Aafia Siddiqui, an MIT-educated Pakistani neuroscientist currently serving 86 years in federal prison for attempted murder.

The offer was immediately dismissed by the U.S. government. "The Pakistanis have raised it," the U.S. official said. "We are not going to pursue it."

The proposal is the latest in a series of efforts to break an impasse between Washington and Islamabad over Davis. The CIA contractor has been held by Pakistani authorities since late January for shooting and killing two men he says were following his car and tried to rob him.

Siddiqui was convicted of trying to shoot F.B.I. agents and military officers in an Afghanistan police station in 2008. Siddiqui had been arrested the day before after being found with a list of New York city landmarks and instructions on how to construct explosives.

In 2004, F.B.I. director Robert Mueller described Siddiqui as an "al Qaeda operative and facilitator." The F.B.I. had issued a global alert for Siddiqui and her first husband in 2003, for their suspected ties to al Qaeda. Siddiqui later remarried to an al Qaeda operative, who was the nephew of the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Muhammed. The husband, Ammar al-Baluchi is currently being detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Siddiqui was never charged with any terrorism-related crimes, however. Shortly after the FBI alert, she and her children disappeared, only to surface in Afghanistan five years later. Siddiqui has claimed she was held in secret American prisons, including Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, during that time. American officials have consistently denied that she was ever in American custody.

Official: Raymond Davis Trade Offer Not Considered by White House

According to the Pakistani official, the Pakistan's government proposal called for Siddiqui to be transferred to Pakistan, where she would serve the remainder of her sentence in a Pakistani jail or under house arrest.

Siddiqui's case became a cause celebre in Pakistan last year when Pakistan's prime minister called for Siddiqui's exoneration and release.

Popular Pakistani sentiment held that Siddiqui, who also had a Ph.D. from Brandeis University, had been persecuted by the U.S. because she was an educated Islamist woman, someone who spurned the West despite her background.

According to the senior administration official and a Pakistani official, the U.S. government quickly made it clear to Pakistan that they would not entertain the possibility of trading Siddiqui for Davis.

The American official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record about the negotiation, said the offer was not being considered by the Obama White House.

The Pakistani official directly involved in the negotiations agreed, saying their Siddiqui proposal was a "non-starter" for the U.S. government.

Since the impasse began in the days after the January 27th shooting in Lahore, that ultimately led to the deaths of three Pakistani citizens, both sides have alternated between hard and soft approaches to end the diplomatic stand off.

U.S. and Pakistani officials told ABC News that early on, the White House threatened to close the three U.S. consulates and expel the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. if Davis wasn't released. Pakistan's ambassador, Husain Haqqani, has denied that the White House made those threats.

The Associated Press reported last week that the Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, has stopped speaking with the CIA over the Davis case and its perception that the Americans have been heavy-handed in their efforts to get Davis released. Citing a senior ISI official, the report described the relationship between the ISI and CIA as at the lowest point since 9/11. The U.S.-Pakistani relationship is considered crucial to ending the war in Afghanistan.

Pakistani Officials: It's a 'Matter of Time' Before Davis Is Released

On Friday, Davis refused to sign a charge sheet during a pre-trial hearing, telling the court he has been advised that he has diplomatic immunity.

But there is still hope for a resolution despite the apparent impasse. Pakistani officials in both Lahore and Islamabad have told ABC News that Davis' release is a "matter of time," and that the Pakistani government is waiting for the public furor over the case to wane before releasing the American.

One Pakistani official said that one likely outcome would be that the U.S. government would pay reparations to the victims' families, who under Pakistan law can pardon Davis if asked.

U.S. Fears for Life of Outed CIA Contractor in Pakistan Prison

By MATTHEW COLE

U.S. officials believe that Raymond A. Davis, the CIA contractor in Pakistani custody for shooting two men, is in serious danger - even from the guards at the prison where he is now being held.

Davis was working for the CIA as an independent contractor in Lahore when the shooting incident occurred on Jan. 27, according to two senior U.S. intelligence officials. He has been at the center of a tug-of-war between U.S. and Pakistani officials ever since.

The Pakistani government is under significant public pressure to prosecute Davis. The incident has set off massive anti-American protests and calls for Davis to be executed for the murders.

"Our first fear is that the sentiment of the street in Pakistan is, 'Let's take him and hang him,'" said a current senior U.S. official.

According to the official, administration officials fear that the Pakistani government lacks sufficient control over Pakistani municipal police, who have Davis in custody.

A second U.S. official told ABC News that even Pakistani officials are concerned for Davis' safety in the Lahore prison where he now awaits his next court date on Feb. 25. According to the official, the jail holds 4,000 inmates, many of whom are militants, and as many as three prisoners have been "murdered by guards." Davis is currently being held in a separate part of the jail for his safety, and his guards have had their guns taken away. His food is being tasted first by dogs to make sure it isn't poisoned.

According to a current senior U.S. official and a senior intelligence consultant who worked with Davis, the 36-year-old American is a former Blackwater contractor who was posted to Lahore as part of the CIA's Global Response Staff, or GRS, a unit of security and bodyguards assigned to war zones and troubled countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Members of the GRS most often accompany CIA case officers, who meet with clandestine sources.

Davis and a group of fellow security officers lived in a safehouse in Lahore. The CIA keeps safehouses for security personnel in an effort to limit the ability for militants to track their movements, the intelligence contractor said.

ABC News was asked by the U.S. government to withhold publication of Davis's affiliation with the CIA, citing fears that disclosure would jeopardize his safety. After several foreign media organizations published parts of his background, the U.S. government rescinded its request to ABC News to embargo the information.

On Jan. 27, Davis left the safehouse and conducted an "area familiarization route," according to the senior U.S. official. He drove through various Lahore neighborhoods for several hours. It was during his route, two U.S. officials say, that Davis stopped at an A.T.M. and possibly drew the attention of two Pakistani men on a motorcycle.

Davis has told the police in Lahore that the two men were attempting to rob him when he fired several rounds from his Glock handgun, hitting them both. The police report says that Davis claimed one of the men had a gun cocked at him. Davis fired multiple rounds from inside his car, killing one man in the street, while the second died later from his injuries.

Davis then called for help from several other CIA security officers who shared his Lahore safehouse, according to a U.S. official and the intelligence consultant. As they arrived near the intersection, they accidentally hit a Pakistani motorcyclist. The motorcyclist later died of his injuries. Davis' colleagues were unable to get to Davis before the police arrested him. They left the scene and returned to their safehouse.

Within hours, they had destroyed all government documents at the safehouse, abandoned it, and retreated to the U.S. consulate for safety. Both have since returned to the U.S., according to a senior U.S. official briefed on the case.

U.S. officials have been in a standoff with the Pakistani government over Davis's detention since his arrest. Pakistani officials have denied that his diplomatic passport protects him from the country's judicial system. They say the legal system will soon determine if he should stand trial for murder or other crimes, or release him.

The U.S. asserts that Davis has diplomatic immunity and is protected under the Vienna Convention, which recognizes diplomatic immunity.

Last week President Obama called Davis "our diplomat" and urged the Pakistani government to release the CIA operative.

"We've got a very simple principle here that every country in the world that is party to the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations has upheld in the past and should uphold in the future, and that is, if our diplomats are in another country, then they are not subject to that country's local prosecution," Obama said in a press conference last week.

"We expect Pakistan, that's a signatory and recognizes Mr. Davis as a diplomat, to abide by the same convention."

Since Davis was detained, the Obama administration has summoned the Pakistani ambassador to the White House to demand Davis's release, while Secretary of State Clinton and the U.S. ambassador to Pakistani and asked senior Pakistani military, intelligence and other government officials to respect Davis's diplomatic immunity. But the U.S. has refused to elaborate publicly on Davis' position in Pakistan except to say he was a "technical advisor" for the consulate in Lahore and to refer to him as a "diplomat" in public statements.

"We are playing a game of chicken," said a senior Pakistani official, who would only speak if given anonymity. "It is not yet clear who will blink first."

According to a senior U.S. official, Davis first arrived in Pakistan in December 2008, and was posted at various times in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. Until last August, Davis was stationed in Pakistan as an employee of the company once known as Blackwater, now called Xe Services, and contracted to the CIA.

According to a former Blackwater executive, the CIA terminated the company's GRS contract in Pakistan, accusing the security company of failing to provide adequate services. The agency then moved to hire all the former Xe/Blackwater security personnel directly as independent contractors.

As a GRS officer, Davis made $780 per day working as a security guard for the agency's clandestine case officers. One official described his job as always being "a few tables away" from a case officer meeting with a clandestine source, and providing security escorts around the country. By 2010, he'd been moved to Peshawar.

In recent years the Pakistani media has asserted that Blackwater was responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in the restive western areas of the country -- attacks attributed by the Pakistani and American governments to the Taliban, al Qaeda and other militant Islamic groups.

According to the intelligence consultant, Blackwater personnel have worked for the CIA in Pakistan since at least 2004, most as security guards, but some as paramilitary operatives working to target militants in the country's tribal regions.

The Pakistani men Davis shot on Jan. 27 were carrying pistols and stolen cell phones, according to the Lahore police. Pakistani government officials have told ABC News that the two were working for that country's intelligence agency, Inter-Service Intelligence, and were also conducting surveillance. But the police report records interviews with two witnesses who say that they had been robbed earlier by the two men Davis shot, and American officials deny that the two men worked for the ISI.

"We have no information to suggest Davis was being followed by the ISI," one current U.S. official said.

Lee Ferran and Nick Schifrin contributed to his report.

Raymond Davis Is CIA Contractor, U.S. Officials Say

By MATTHEW COLE

Raymond A. Davis, the U.S. official at the heart of a tense stand-off with the Pakistan government, was working for the CIA as an independent contractor when he shot and killed two Pakistani men, according to two senior U.S. intelligence officials. U.S. officials believe Davis's affiliation with the CIA places his life at risk, even from the guards in the prison where he is now being held.

In the fullest account yet of how an American official came to be held for the deadly shooting in Pakistan, three current officials have told ABC News who Davis was working for and what he was doing on Jan. 27 when the incident occurred.

According to a current senior U.S. official and a senior intelligence consultant who worked with Davis, the 36-year-old American is a former Blackwater contractor who was posted to Lahore as part of the CIA's Global Response Staff, or GRS, a unit of security and bodyguards assigned to war zones and troubled countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Members of the GRS most often accompany CIA case officers, who meet with clandestine sources.

Davis and a group of fellow security officers lived in a safehouse in Lahore. The CIA keeps safehouses for security personnel in an effort to limit the ability for militants to track their movements, the intelligence contractor said.

ABC News was asked by the U.S. government to withhold publication of Davis's affiliation with the CIA, citing fears that disclosure would jeopardize his safety. After several foreign media organizations published parts of his background, the U.S. government rescinded its request to ABC News to embargo the information.

On Jan. 27, Davis left the safehouse and conducted an "area familiarization route," according to the senior U.S. official. He drove through various Lahore neighborhoods for several hours. It was during his route, two U.S. officials say, that Davis stopped at an A.T.M. and possibly drew the attention of two Pakistani men on a motorcycle.

Davis has told the police in Lahore that the two men were attempting to rob him when he fired several rounds from his Glock handgun, hitting them both. The police report says that Davis claimed one of the men had a gun cocked at him. Davis fired multiple rounds from inside his car, killing one man in the street, while the second died later from his injuries.

Davis then called for help from several other CIA security officers who shared his Lahore safehouse, according to a U.S. official and the intelligence consultant. As they arrived near the intersection, they accidentally hit a Pakistani motorcyclist. The motorcyclist later died of his injuries. Davis' colleagues were unable to get to Davis before the police arrested him. They left the scene and returned to their safehouse.

Within hours, they had destroyed all government documents at the safehouse, abandoned it, and retreated to the U.S. consulate for safety. Both have since returned to the U.S., according to a senior U.S. official briefed on the case.

Davis has been held ever since by the local police. Pakistani authorities have said Davis is now in the legal system, which will soon determine if he should stand trial for murder, different crimes, or release him.

The Pakistani government is under significant public pressure to prosecute Davis. The incident has set off massive anti-American protests and calls for Davis to be executed for the murders.

"Our first fear is that the sentiment of the street in Pakistan is, 'Let's take him and hang him,'" said a current senior U.S. official.

According to the official, administration officials fear that the Pakistani government lacks sufficient control over Pakistani municipal police, who have Davis in custody.

A second U.S. official told ABC News that even Pakistani officials are concerned for Davis's safety in the Lahore prison where he now awaits his next court date. According to the official, the jail holds 4,000 inmates, many of whom are militants, and as many as three prisoners have been "murdered by guards." Davis is currently being held in a separate part of the jail for his safety, and his guards have had their guns taken away. His food is being tasted first by dogs to make sure it isn't poisoned.

U.S. officials have been in a standoff with the Pakistani government over Davis's detention since his arrest. The U.S. asserts that Davis has diplomatic immunity and is protected under the Vienna Convention, which recognizes diplomatic immunity. Pakistani officials have denied that his diplomatic passport protects him from the country's judicial system.

Last week President Obama called Davis "our diplomat" and urged the Pakistani government to release the CIA operative.

"We've got a very simple principle here that every country in the world that is party to the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations has upheld in the past and should uphold in the future, and that is, if our diplomats are in another country, then they are not subject to that country's local prosecution," Obama said in a press conference last week.

"We expect Pakistan, that's a signatory and recognizes Mr. Davis as a diplomat, to abide by the same convention."

Since Davis was detained, the Obama administration has summoned the Pakistani ambassador to the White House to demand Davis's release, while Secretary of State Clinton and the U.S. ambassador to Pakistani and asked senior Pakistani military, intelligence and other government officials to respect Davis's diplomatic immunity. But the U.S. has refused to elaborate publicly on Davis' position in Pakistan except to say he was a "technical advisor" for the consulate in Lahore and to refer to him as a "diplomat" in public statements.

"We are playing a game of chicken," said a senior Pakistani official, who would only speak if given anonymity. "It is not yet clear who will blink first."

According to a senior U.S. official, Davis first arrived in Pakistan in December 2008, and was posted at various times in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. Until last August, Davis was stationed in Pakistan as an employee of the company once known as Blackwater, now called Xe Services, and contracted to the CIA.

According to a former Blackwater executive, the CIA terminated the company's GRS contract in Pakistan, accusing the security company of failing to provide adequate services. The agency then moved to hire all the former Xe/Blackwater security personnel directly as independent contractors.

As a GRS officer, Davis made $780 per day working as a security guard for the agency's clandestine case officers. One official described his job as always being "a few tables away" from a case officer meeting with a clandestine source, and providing security escorts around the country. By 2010, he'd been moved to Peshawar.

In recent years the Pakistani media has asserted that Blackwater was responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in the restive western areas of the country -- attacks attributed by the Pakistani and American governments to the Taliban, al Qaeda and other militant Islamic groups.

According to the intelligence consultant, Blackwater personnel have worked for the CIA in Pakistan since at least 2004, most as security guards, but some as paramilitary operatives working to target militants in the country's tribal regions.

The Pakistani men Davis shot on Jan. 27 were carrying pistols and stolen cell phones, according to the Lahore police. Pakistani government officials have told ABC News that the two were working for that country's intelligence agency, Inter-Service Intelligence, and were also conducting surveillance. But the police report records interviews with two witnesses who say that they had been robbed earlier by the two men Davis shot, and American officials deny that the two men worked for the ISI.

"We have no information to suggest Davis was being followed by the ISI," one current U.S. official said.

ABC News' Lee Ferran and Nick Schifrin contributed to his report.

Second American Involved in Lahore Shooting Slips Back to U.S.

By MATTHEW COLE and LEE FERRAN

A Pakistani court has demanded the arrest of a second U.S. official in connection with a deadly shootout in Lahore, Pakistan, last month, but that official, as well another American official involved in the incident, have already slipped out of the country and are back on American soil, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

The American sought for arrest, who the State Department only identified as a member of the U.S. embassy's staff in Islamabad, Pakistan, was behind the wheel when he struck and killed a bystander while racing to the aid of U.S. "technical advisor" Raymond Davis, who is currently detained in Lahore. Davis is accused of gunning down two Pakistani men in the street on Jan. 27 in what the State Department said was self-defense during a "botched robbery."

The driver of the vehicle held the same diplomatic visa as Davis, U.S. officials told ABC News. Since his arrest, the U.S. argued that Davis should be afforded diplomatic immunity as a member of the embassy's "technical and administrative staff" and released.

Authorities in Punjab said they sent five letters to the U.S. Embassy asking that the driver and vehicle be handed over, but have reportedly received no response. It is unclear when the driver and his passenger were spirited out of Pakistan, but a senior U.S. official said it happened soon after the shooting incident.

Davis is still in a high-security detention center in Lahore and is expected to stay there until a court hearing next month, despite repeated demands by the U.S. -- including from President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- that he be released immediately. In a court hearing Thursday, a representative of the Pakistani central government said Pakistani officials are still trying to determine whether Davis qualifies for diplomatic immunity.

Victim's Brother Demands Execution for Raymond Davis

Moments after the court issued its ruling Thursday to hold Davis, the brother of one of the shooting victims addressed the media demanding Davis' execution.

"Our demand from the first day is that we want him hanged, nothing other than this," the man said.

The wife of the same man who was shot committed suicide earlier this month, but not before telling local media she wanted Davis' "blood."

After the hearing, Cameron Munter, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, said he was "disappointed" the Pakistani central government did not certify Davis as a diplomat and release him under diplomatic immunity.

Ever since his arrest, mystery has surrounded the man President Barack Obama called "our diplomat."

In the days after the shooting, the U.S. State Department denied that the man in Pakistani custody was Raymond Davis, despite Pakistani officials, court documents and one source close to Davis saying otherwise. Eventually Davis was revealed to be a member of the embassy's "technical and administrative staff," but the State Department has refused to answer questions about his specific job in Pakistan. When Davis was arrested, he reportedly possessed a loaded gun, GPS equipment, pictures of what Pakistani police called "sensitive areas" of Pakistan, as well as a diplomatic passport.

Public records show Davis has experience with the U.S. Special Forces and runs a small security company that provides "loss prevention specialists," according to the company website which is no longer active.

Complicating matters, several Pakistani officials told ABC News that the men Davis allegedly shot were not small time criminals, but agents of the country's premier intelligence service, the ISI, who had been tracking Davis -- a claim the U.S. government vehemently denies.

Kerry: U.S. Will Open Criminal Investigation Into Shooting

Earlier Wednesday, Sen. John Kerry, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, left Pakistan without Davis after a short trip meant to help smooth over relations between Pakistan and the U.S.

"President Obama and Secretary Clinton have personally asked me to convey to the people of Pakistan our deepest sorrow for the loss of life that occurred there in that tragic incident," Kerry said before leaving the country. "And there is nothing that the United States wants more than to see those kinds of incidents disappear forever in the lives of Pakistanis and in our relationship. I was encouraged today in the meetings that I had in all levels of your government."

Upon landing in the country, Kerry told local media the U.S. Department of Justice would open a criminal investigation into the shooting should Raymond Davis be released.

"I think during the course of Senator Kerry's stay there, we made clear that with such incidents it is practice of the United States government to conduct its own criminal investigation," Crowley told reporters Wednesday. "And we intend to follow that practice here."

ABC News' Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

Obama Advisor Delivered Presidential Threat To Pakistan Over Detained American

By Matthew Cole and Nick Schiffrin

Pakistani officials said President Obama's national security advisor summoned Pakistan's ambassador to the White House Monday evening to deliver a threat from the president: Release Raymond Davis, an American being held in Lahore for killing two Pakistanis, or face the consequences.

National Security Advisor Tom Donilon told Ambassador Husain Haqqani, according to two Pakistani officials involved in negotiations about Davis, that the U.S. will kick Haqqani out of the U.S., close U.S. consulates in Pakistan, and cancel an upcoming visit by Pakistan's president to Washington, if Davis, a U.S. embassy employee, is not released from custody by Friday.

The outlines of the threat were confirmed to ABC News by a senior U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak on the record. A White House spokesperson, Tommy Vietor, declined comment.

Ambassador Haqqani denied, via Twitter, that any "US official, incl the NSA, has conveyed any personal threats 2 me or spoken of extreme measures."

Davis, 36, is expected in court early Friday morning in Lahore to face charges of shooting two men on motorcycle on Jan. 25. Davis says he killed the men because they had been following his car and were trying to rob him. Video emerged Thursday of Davis showing his State Department credentials to Pakistani police officers and saying, "I'm a consultant."

Davis is in Pakistan on a diplomatic passport, and the U.S. has demanded his immediate release on the grounds of diplomatic immunity. The stand-off between Washington and Islamabad has brought the already tense relationship between two uneasy allies to a new low.

Raymond Davis Is 'Technical Advisor' To Consulate

The U.S. has refused to elaborate publicly on Davis' position in Pakistan except to say he is a "technical advisor" for the consulate in Lahore. But U.S. officials believe Davis's life is in danger the longer he spends time in a Lahore jail cell, the target of anti-American resentment from Pakistani citizens, some of whom have called for Davis to be executed.

"Our first fear is that the sentiment of the street in Pakistan is, 'Let's take him and hang him,'" said a current senior U.S. official.

According to the official, administration officials fear that the Pakistani government lacks control over Lahore municipal police, who have Davis in custody.

Pakistani government officials have claimed that Davis was being followed by men hired by Pakistan's intelligence agency because they suspected Davis was spying. American officials have said that Davis shot the two men in self defense, after they blocked his car with their motorcycle and brandished weapons.

In a video that aired in Pakistan yesterday, Davis could be seen and heard inside the Lahore police station moments after being taken into custody.

"I need to tell the embassy where I'm at," Davis says to several police officers who are seen inspecting the identification cards around his neck. "I work as a consultant there."

In a statement to ABC News, Ambassador Haqqani denied that the U.S. and Pakistan were "negotiating through threats."

"Both sides are trying to work out a way forward," said Haqqani. "Our countries are sufficiently close to handle an irritant in our relationship."

The Face That Launched Egypt's Revolution

By Brian Ross and Matthew Cole

For many Egyptians, this week's attacks on demonstrators, journalists and human rights lawyers come as no surprise. Egypt is notorious for its brutal police and intelligence services.

In fact, the fate of one victim who died at the hands of Egypt's police has served as a rallying call for the Egyptians who took to the streets demanding change.

Last June, 28-year-old Khaled Said of Alexandria posted a video online that seemed to show police officers and drug dealers working together.

"Now it's time for a vacation," one of them says in the video.

The police were outraged when the video was posted, and Said paid the price.

As reported on one of Egypt's most widely watched news programs, Said was dragged out of an internet cafe by two policemen and beaten, in front of witnesses including a store owner and young children.

The owner of the internet cafe described to reporters how the men had beaten Said to death in a doorway across the street, smashing his head against stairs, a wall and an iron door.

A young boy, who said he saw the incident, told reporters, "They kept hitting him and he objected and asked, 'Why am I getting beat?"

"They kill people though they haven't done anything," another girl who was interviewed said, referring to the Egyptian police.

After taking him away, the officers returned minutes later and dumped Said's lifeless body in front of the internet café. The police later claimed Said had suffocated to death when he tried to swallow a bag of hashish.

Photos of Said's contorted face, showing a fractured skull, broken nose and dislocated jaw, went viral on the internet.

'We Are All Khaled Said'

Outrage over the June 6 incident sparked the creation of a huge Facebook group called We Are All Khaled Said, with more than 40,000 on-line supporters. It was that web site which first called for Egyptians to gather in protest on a day of anger on January 25 -- a date chosen because it is officially celebrated as "National Police Day" in Egypt.

When protestors gathered in the streets on January 25 in Alexandria, Said's photo was carried aloft in posters and banners. Egyptians across the country have not stopped protesting since.

Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, believes Said's death might have been "the final straw" for Egyptians.

"You know it's hard to explain why one thing ends up being the tipping point, why one case really sort of touches the hearts of millions as Khaled Said's case did in Alexandria," said Whitson. "But the fact that there were video images really galvanized the sense in Egypt among Egyptians that they had had enough."

Said's family told ABC News it was too dangerous for them to speak out now because of police stationed near their home, but his mother has posted on-line videos to protest the long delay in prosecuting the two police officers charged with her son's murder. Social media and on-line videos have played a huge role in publicizing alleged police abuses in Egypt in recent years.

"Egypt is well known internationally as one of the countries who has perfected the art of torture," said Adel Iskander, an Egyptian-Canadian media scholar and a lecturer at Georgetown University. Videos of Said and other victims of brutality , said Iskander, have "shown both the police brutality and to some extent the judicial complicity behind this system of torture that's going on in Egypt."

In perhaps the most infamous case prior to Khaled Said, Cairo bus driver Imad Kabir was sodomized by police, who taped it all, and then sent the video to his coworkers as a warning.

Kabir's crime? He said he was trying to break up a fight between his brother and a police officer. Thanks to the video, and to Kabir's testimony in open court, the police officers were prosecuted and convicted for sodomizing Kabir, and sentenced to three years of hard labor.

Kabir's abuse was publicized online by blogger Wael Abbas, who since 2005 has been well-known in Egypt for collecting videos of alleged police abuse and posting them on his YouTube channel and his blog, misrdigital.com. Other videos among the many posted by Abbas appear to show beatings by police, a man with a bare, bloody back begging for mercy in a police station, and a female murder suspect hanging upside down and moaning. Abbas told ABC News earlier this week that during the protests he has been concerned for his safety and worried about reprisals.

"The number of videos that have been posted on line over the past few years that really scandalize this issue of police brutality is remarkable," said Iskander. "And the reaction has been absolute outrage. Human rights organizations have called on Egypt to restrain its police force and its torture of citizens. In fact, some argue that this very revolution may have begun precisely to try to prevent police brutality.

Omar Suleiman: Torturer-in-Chief?

For many, Egypt's torturer–in-chief is the country's new vice-president Omar Suleiman. Until last week, the 74-year-old Suleiman, a veteran of the Mubarak regime, was the head of the country's intelligence service, the Mukhabarat.

Said Whitson, "What we know about Omar Suleiman is that he has a long history of involvement, of course, in the intelligence agency of the country, and a long record of involvement in torture and abuse of detainees."

Suleiman is also closely tied to the U.S., considered a great help in the interrogation of terror suspects sent to Egypt by the CIA under a so-called "rendition" program that began in the 1990s.

"It was a symbiotic relationship," explained Emile Nakhleh, a former top Middle East analyst for the CIA. "We benefitted from it, they benefitted from it. But all along our senior policy makers kept telling them that they need to institute real reform very quietly but consistently and they never listened."

Some of the secret US cables made public by Wikileaks show American officials were fully aware of the problem.

"Omar Suleiman and the interior minister keep the domestic beasts at bay and Mubarak is not one to lose sleep over their tactics," wrote one American diplomat in Cairo 2009.

"I would say his hands are deep on the torture system," said Whitson, "beyond fingerprints."

For Egyptians, the hands of Suleiman and Mubarakhave left permanent scars. The scars will be forever visible in online videos, whether of a bus driver who didn't show the desired respect to the police, or a young man who sought to expose police corruption, but would not live to see the power of what he started.

Pakistan Extends Detention of Accused American Official

By LEE FERRAN, KIRIT RADIA and MATTHEW COLE

The American official accused in the shooting deaths of two Pakistani men will be detained for an extended period of up to eight days, despite renewed calls from the U.S. that he be immediately released under the provisions of diplomatic immunity.

Raymond Davis, as the American has been identified by Pakistani investigators, court documents and a source close to Davis, appeared in a Pakistani court this morning but was not afforded a lawyer or translator, a spokesman from the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, said.

A week after the incident, U.S. officials have yet to name Davis as the official in custody, referring to him only as a diplomat and member of the embassy's administrative and technical staff. Pakistani officials described Davis as a "technical adviser" and his military record shows experience with the U.S. Special Forces.

"The U.S. Embassy reiterated to the Government of Pakistan today that his continued detention is a gross violation of international law," the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, said in a statement today. "Under the Vienna Convention and Pakistani domestic law, he is entitled to full criminal immunity and cannot be lawfully arrested or detained."

The statement said that in the court appearance today Davis was "denied due process and a fair hearing." Pakistani officials had said they would rule on whether he is granted diplomatic immunity this week, but have extended the decision while police investigate the shooting for up to eight days, officials told ABC News.

Davis, who runs a small private security consulting business, allegedly shot and killed two men who he said were attempting to rob him last week in Lahore, Pakistan. A third Pakistani man died after he was struck by a vehicle that was reportedly racing to Davis' aid. The U.S. State Department called the shooting self defense.

"We deeply regret that the January 27 events in Lahore resulted in the loss of life following an attack on the diplomat by armed assailants," the statement from the U.S. embassy said. "However, the Government of Pakistan must comply with its obligations under international and Pakistani law and ensure that he has immunity from criminal jurisdiction. "

Relatives of Dead Demand Terrorism Charges for Davis

The decision to extend Davis' detention comes a day after the relatives of the men who were shot demanded in a press conference that terrorism charges be brought against Davis.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik echoed the position of several high level Pakistani officials when he told reporters Tuesday that the case against the American would go before a Pakistani court.

Lahore's High Court asked the Pakistani government Tuesday to place Davis on the "exit control list," which would bar him from leaving the country, an official told ABC News.

According to public documents, Davis currently owns Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, which provides clients with "loss and risk management professionals" and sells safety and surveillance equipment.

In addition to not identifying the American official, the State Department has declined to say precisely in what capacity he was working for the government -- beyond as a diplomat -- or why he was apparently armed at the time of the incident.

Pakistan Refuses to Release U.S. Official Accused in Shooting

By Lee Ferran, Matthew Cole and Kirit Radia

Pakistani officials said today they are refusing to release the American official, identified by the U.S. only as "a diplomat," involved in a deadly shooting in Lahore, Pakistan, despite U.S. demands.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik echoed the position of several high level Pakistani officials when he told reporters Tuesday that the case against the American -- identified by Pakistani officials, court documents and a source close to the man in custody as Raymond Davis -- would go before a Pakistani court.

Lahore's High Court asked the Pakistani government today to place Davis on the "exit control list," which would bar him from leaving the country, an official told ABC News.

Without identifying Davis, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, issued a call for the release of "a U.S. diplomat unlawfully detained" over the weekend, stating he was working for the U.S. government in Islamabad in a diplomatic capacity and was carrying a diplomatic passport when he fought off two would-be robbers last week.

"On January 27, the diplomat acted in self-defense when confronted by two armed men on motorcycles," the embassy said in the statement. "The diplomat had every reason to believe that the armed men meant him bodily harm... When detained, the U.S. diplomat identified himself to police as a diplomat and repeatedly requested immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."

A source close to Davis said he works as a "technical adviser." His military record shows experience in the U.S. Special Forces and, according to public documents, he currently owns Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, which provides clients with "loss and risk management professionals."

The two men were killed in the shooting as well as another man who was reportedly struck by a vehicle that was racing to Davis' aid. In addition to not identifying the American official, the State Department has declined to say precisely in what capacity he was working for the government -- beyond as a diplomat -- or why he was apparently armed at the time of the incident.

U.S. Embassy: Working to Secure 'Immediate Release of the Diplomat'

A trial will determine whether the killing was intentional, accidental or in self-defense, Pakistani officials said last week.

"We regret that this incident resulted in loss of life. We greatly value the cooperation and partnership between Pakistan and the United States, which is vital to the interests of both countries," the U.S. Embassy said this weekend. "The U.S. Embassy is committed to working closely with the Pakistani government to secure the immediate release of the diplomat, as required under Pakistani and international law."

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this report.

American Official Involved in Pakistan Shooting Identified

By MATTHEW COLE, KIRIT RADIA and LEE FERRAN

Though the U.S. State Department and Pakistani officials are at odds over the identity of a U.S. consular employee accused of killing two Pakistani men, private security officer Raymond Davis was involved in the incident, sources told ABC News today.

Davis, a "technical adviser" to the U.S. government whose record shows experience in the U.S. Special Forces, is accused of shooting two men who were apparently attempting to rob him Thursday in Lahore. A third Pakistani man was killed when a vehicle struck him while reportedly racing to the American's aid.

Pakistani officials named Davis as the accused American to ABC News, in reports and in court documents Thursday, but State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the name had been misreported.

A source close to Davis told ABC News today he was involved in the incident.

Court documents filed in Lahore list Davis as charged with murder. A trial will determine whether the killing was intentional, accidental or in self-defense.

After denying the man's name is Raymond Davis, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley would not say who accused government employee is, in what capacity he worked for the embassy or why he was apparently carrying a firearm.

"I can confirm that an employee at the U.S. consulate in Lahore was involved in an incident today," Crowley said Thursday. "It is under investigation. We have not released the identity of our employee at this point."

Davis runs Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, a company that provides "loss and risk management professionals."

Since it is not known in what capacity Davis was working for the government, it is not clear whether he is entitled to diplomatic immunity.

The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this report.

Iranian Defector Detained and Tortured?

By MATTHEW COLE

Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear scientist who returned to Tehran in July after what he called a "kidnapping" by the CIA, has been held in detention by Iranian authorities for two months and tortured so badly he was hospitalized, according to a dissident Iranian web site.

An article on Iranbriefing.net claims that an unnamed family source says Amiri was held in a safe house after his much-publicized return to the country. He was allowed to have supervised visits with family members before being moved to a prison in Tehran in October for interrogation.

Amiri, a professor at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, defected to the U.S. in 2009 after funneling Iranian nuclear secrets for the CIA for several years while still inside the Iranian nuclear program, American officials told ABC News.

Amiri was a key source for the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that concluded the Iranian nuclear weaponization program had been halted after 2003, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official. The CIA began pushing Amiri to flee after publication of the NIE, said the official, because the agency feared the Iranian government would discover Amiri's role in providing the information. Amiri disappeared while on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009, and then resurfaced in the U.S., first at an apartment in Tucson, Arizona and then at an apartment in Springfield, Virginia.

But after more than a year in the U.S., Amiri claimed he had never really defected. In a series of videos released on the internet in early 2010, he insisted he had been kidnapped, drugged and tortured by the CIA. He claimed he was trying to elude U.S. agents so he could be reunited with his wife and son in Iran.

Amiri Returns To Iran

In July, Amiri showed up in Washington, D.C. at the Iranian interest section of the Pakistani embassy. Before boarding a flight back to Iran, Amiri told Iranian television he had finally escaped from the hands of U.S. intelligence, something U.S. officials said at the time he had to say to avoid being imprisoned or executed on his return to Tehran.

The article that appeared on Iranbriefing.net, a site operated by the Iran Briefing Foundation, which describes itself as a non-profit, U.S.-based human rights group, is the first purported update on Amiri's status since his return to Iran. It says he is being held in solitary confinement, and that he spent a week in a hospital because of the effects of physical and psychological torture.

At the time Amiri went back to Iran, former CIA officer Bob Baer told ABC News that it was common for defectors to have second thoughts. Baer also predicted that the Iranians would keep Amiri alive and perhaps allow him several years as "a public hero" if they wanted to sustain what Baer called "the pretense that he was kidnapped."

"After that," said Baer, "I can't tell you."