CIA Contractor killer Raymond Davis Freed in Pakistan

Davis was released from detention after around $700,000 was paid to each family of the two men allegedly shot and killed by Davis, totaling around $1.4 million, a lawyer involved in the case told ABC News.

Officials told ABC News families of the victims appeared in a Lahore court today to say that they have pardoned him. A U.S. official said it was a "Pakistani decision" to release Davis and he is no longer in the country.

Payment of money to the families of victims in crimes for securing acquittals for the accused has significant legal precedent in Pakistan, a custom loosely translated as paying "blood money."

"The families of the victims of the January 27 incident in Lahore have pardoned Raymond Davis," U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said in a statement. "I am grateful for their generosity. I wish to express, once again, my regret for the incident and my sorrow at the suffering it caused."

Davis has been in Pakistani detention since the Jan. 27 incident in which he allegedly shot and killed two men on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, who he said were attempting to rob him. Since his arrest, U.S. officials including President Barack Obama have repeatedly called for Davis' release, arguing he carried a diplomatic passport and was under the protection of diplomatic immunity.

Davis was identified only as a member of the "technical and administrative" staff of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad when he was arrested. It was revealed last month he was under contract from the CIA.

Munter said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting.