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LAHORE, Pakistan — American officials won the release on Wednesday of a C.I.A. contractor under investigation for two counts of murder here after they spent more than six hours with the families of the victims, the lawyer for the families Asad Manzoor Butt said.
The families accepted a payment of money, ending the case, Mr. Butt said. He did not specify the amount.
The Punjab law minister, Rana Sanaullah, confirmed on television that payment had been agreed to and paid, and that the contractor, Raymond A. Davis, 36, had been handed over to the United States consul general.
Mr. Butts also said he thought Mr. Davis had already left the jail. A five-car convoy from the United States consulate left the Kot Lakhpat jail at 4:20 p.m., local time.
Mr. Butt did not take part in the discussions between the family and American officials, which took place at the jail where he was held. He said he was kept in a side room at the jail throughout the day and was informed of the result by an official.
Mr. Davis had been held at the jail since shooting and killing two motorbike riders on Jan. 27 in the middle of the day in downtown Lahore. The American Embassy had insisted that he had diplomatic immunity and should be released. But the Pakistani government had refused to certify that he was entitled to full immunity. A judge had been expected to indict Mr. Davis on Wednesday, according to some reports.
LAHORE, Pakistan — A CIA contractor who shot and killed two Pakistani men was freed from prison on Wednesday after the United States paid $2.34 million in "blood money" to the victims' families, Pakistani officials said, defusing a dispute that had strained ties between Washington and Islamabad.
In what appeared to be carefully choreographed end to the diplomatic crisis, the U.S. Embassy said the Justice Department had opened an investigation into the killings on Jan. 27 by Raymond Allen Davis. It thanked the families for "their generosity" in pardoning Davis, but did not mention any money changing hands.
The killings and detention of Davis triggered a fresh wave of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and were testing an alliance seen as key to defeating al-Qaida and ending the war in Afghanistan.
The tensions were especially sharp between the CIA and Pakistan's powerful Inter Services Intelligence, which says it did not know Davis was operating in the country. One ISI official said the agency had backed the "blood money" deal as way of soothing tensions.
Small groups of protesters took to the street in major cities after nightfall, briefly clashing with police outside the U.S. consulate in Lahore, where officers fired tear gas at men burning tires and hurling rocks. Some called for larger protests Friday after noon prayers.
Davis, a 34-year-old Virginia native, claimed he acted in self-defense when he killed the two men on the street in the eastern city of Lahore. The United States initially described him as either a U.S. consular or embassy official, but officials later acknowledged he was working for the CIA, confirming suspicions that had aired in the Pakistani media.
