ISLAMABAD, Feb 17: Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that FO officials told him they were not convinced that Raymond Davis enjoyed blanket immunity as claimed by the United States. He said this opinion was also endorsed by an inter-ministerial meeting.

Mr Qureshi cleverly played his cards at a hard-hitting press conference arranged at a short notice on Wednesday and tried to wriggle out of the situation by putting the onus on the Foreign Office and party leadership.

He is reported to have refused to join the reconstituted cabinet because he wasn't offered the foreign ministry. And the government apparently did not intend to reassign him foreign ministry because of his stance that Davis did not enjoy blanket immunity.

Mr Qureshi said he 'honestly' communicated his point of view on the immunity issue to the PPP's core committee and the party leadership had agreed to leave the matter to courts. “This was also stated by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on the floor of the house.”

The former foreign minister said he too was opposed to confrontation with the US, but wanted a just resolution of the dispute.

Diplomatic sources insist that the government was all set to inform the Lahore High Court on Thursday that Davis, according to the Vienna Convention, was entitled to immunity, even though he had not been registered as a diplomat with the local authorities.

But Mr Qureshi's remarks, they said, had put the government on the back foot and it decided to seek more time from the court in anticipation of a blood money deal, which was believed to be in the making and could possibly resolve the issue.