Anne’s cousin, Mac, has asked us to post about Raymond Davis, the American diplomat that is currently being detained by Pakistan. We were flattered that Mac thought that this little ole soapbox could do some good and were glad to help too. Per the US embassy, as quoted in this BBC news article from Mac:

The United States Embassy in Pakistan calls for the immediate release of a US diplomat unlawfully detained by authorities in Lahore. The diplomat, assigned to the US Embassy in Islamabad, has a US diplomatic passport and Pakistani visa valid until June 2012. When detained, the US diplomat identified himself to police as a diplomat and repeatedly requested immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Local police and senior authorities failed to observe their legal obligation to verify his status.

In the first picture, Ray is shown during predawn preparations for the Tour de Tucson bicycling event. The second picture shows Mac in yellow riding with Ray. In his email, Mac describes how he knows Ray, “He was my neighbor here in AZ and biking buddy, we did a couple of Tour de Tucson’s together. Please pray for his safe return and get as many bikers as you can to do the same.”

I first heard about Raymond Davis through NPR news accounts. The fact that this incident occurred almost upon the 30th anniversary of the release of the US Iranian embassy hostages came almost immediately to mind. I too pray for Raymond Davis and I also pray that this incident does not drag on for 444 days. I also pray for Pakistan. I pray that it averts the abyss that it is hurtling towards.