The saga ends, but ...

For Americans, phew! Raymond Davis was flown out of Pakistan on Wednesday. Not only he, on a second flight families of the dead spooks also left Pakistan. The Sharif brothers of Punjab went into a sheepish silence after a month-long public posturing. Pakistani media have tongue in cheek. The rightists and their fundo allies are nonplussed. The loyal kings of Arabia gloat in the confines of their palaces at having served the royal powers in Washington.

Old connections wear out hard. Just like old habits die hard. When the U.S. fails to bring Pakistan around, the Saudis do the trick for them. They could do it because they guard the path to the holy pilgrimage. And they have extra palaces in the heart of the desert, some always vacant that entice many.

The story of Davis's release goes like this: families of the victims pardoned him in exchange for blood money amounting to $ 2.3 million. A court in Lahore dropped murder charges against the CIA contractor, who the U.S. claimed enjoyed diplomatic immunity. The BBC's Urdu website says that Saudi Arabia played a role in Davis's release.

A spokesman for PML (N), Siddiqul Farooq, told the BBC that the families of the victims had been taken for Umra where they agreed to pardon the U.S. citizen. How can the Sharif brothers say no to a simple call from the Holy Land where grass does not grow, but they managed to grow hair?

The whole saga is full of contradictions: The U.S. benefited from a sharia law that runs counter to whatever values America stands for. The fundos are crying foul against a deal that was struck as per the 'law' they always want to impose in Pakistan.

Hillary Clinton says the U.S. did not pay the blood money; Pakistan says families of the victims got it. Then who paid the money? Maybe, the Saudis.