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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Pakistan Govt clamps down on U.S. contractors after construction


PESHAWAR: An American detained for visa violations in northwest Pakistan has been revealed to be a contractor working on a US-funded construction project, a security official confirmed.

Pakistan's intelligence agency said it is scrutinising the details of all Americans in the country after the arrest last month of a CIA employee for shooting dead two men in Lahore.

It was unclear if the arrest of Aaron Mark DeHaven in Peshawar on Friday was directly related.

The killings in Lahore have sharply raised tensions between ISI and the CIA, which cooperate behind the scenes in the fight against militant groups inside the country.

A wave of anti-American protests has erupted in the wake of the shootings.

Yesterday, more than 300 Islamists from the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity staged a demonstration in Lahore urging the government to hang the CIA contractor Raymond Allen Davis.

Amir Hamza, a leader of the charity, said: 'Expel all the CIA agents.'

The rally came hours after DeHaven appeared in court in Peshawar and a judge ordered he remain in custody for 14 more days pending a police investigation.

A security official said DeHaven was a contractor who had worked on a least one construction project for the U.S. government in the region, but gave no other details.

He said the 34-year-old, from Virginia, is married to a Pakistani woman. DeHaven's work visa application listed him working for Catalyst Services.

The company's website said it performs logistics, 'life support' and construction services around the world and that its management teams have U.S. Army and Defense Department backgrounds.

The U.S. makes extensive use of contractors to implement its billion-dollar aid and military projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Its embassy said it was trying to arrange consular access to DeHaven.

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