USD 1.7

Baku 23 °C

Paid news

AZ RU EN FA FR

Dark mode

POLITICS

NEWS

World

Economics

Sport

Culture news

Analysis

Blogs

Company

TOP 10

© 2004 - 2026 All copyright are reserved.

Asia

Home page

Asia

Pakistan warns US over demands to release diplomat

09 February 2011 01:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Growing US pressure on Pakistan to free an American official who shot dead two men in the eastern city of Lahore risks complicating attempts to secure his release, a Pakistani official has warned, APA reports quoting ft.com website.
Washington is making increasingly strong demands that Pakistan hand over the man, arguing that the men he killed were armed robbers and that he is entitled to diplomatic immunity.
But Pakistanâ€™s government, often portrayed by opponents as a US lackey, is reluctant to appear to be bowing to US pressure over a case that has sparked widespread public anger and raised questions over the manâ€™s role.
â€œBy raising public pressure on Pakistan, the Americans are in fact making it harder to resolve this case,â€ said a foreign ministry official. â€œThey must be out of their minds if they believe ... pressure on Pakistan will resolve anything.â€
The standoff over the fate of Raymond Davis, the suspect, poses a dilemma for both sides. Pakistan depends on billions of dollars of US civilian and military aid, while the US is counting on Pakistan to do more to support its plan to stabilise Afghanistan.
Mr Davis was arrested after shooting the pair, who were riding a motorcycle, from his car at a busy junction in Lahore on January 27. He told police he was acting in self defence. A third man was killed after being struck by a US consular car that rushed to the scene, according to Pakistani investigators.
The US embassy says the two men on the motorcycle had robbed a passer-by at gunpoint minutes earlier.
Popular passions over the case rose over the weekend when Pakistani media reported that the wife of one of the victims had committed suicide by taking poison after making a statement saying she did not expect the government to deliver justice. â€œI want blood for blood,â€ she was quoted as saying.
Waseem Shamshad, the brother of one of the shooting victims, said Mr Davis should be killed on the same spot. â€œThe same number of bullets must penetrate his body as the number of bullets that hit my brother,â€ Mr Shamsad said.
Protesters who have gathered repeatedly in Lahore since the killings have called for Mr Davis, 36, to be hanged. The case has aggravated a widespread antipathy towards the US in Pakistani society, spurred by grievances over American foreign policy.
A judge in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, ruled last week that the question of whether Mr Davis was entitled to immunity would be resolved by the courts. He was remanded in custody until another hearing due on Friday. Provincial authorities have said it is up to the government in Islamabad to decide whether Mr Davis should have immunity.
The case has been further complicated by the fact that the federal and provincial government are controlled by rival parties. Conspiracy theories abound in Pakistan, but unanswered questions over the case have fuelled media speculation that Mr Davis was more than an ordinary diplomat.
It remains unclear why he was armed. The US embassy has not given details of the kind of work he was doing beyond describing him as a member of its â€œadministrative and technical staffâ€.
A senior police officer in Lahore said police had found GPS trackers, a camera used to take pictures of various locations and maps in his possession. â€œDiplomats donâ€™t carry such gadgets. This is the work of spies,â€ the officer said. â€œHe also appears to be a very precise shooter.â€
The reports have fed a widespread perception in Pakistan that the US is engaged in large-scale covert activities. The belief has been fuelled in part by the Obama administrationâ€™s policy of waging an undeclared campaign of drone strikes against militants in north-west Pakistan.

Dark mode

POLITICS

NEWS

World

Economics

Sport

Culture news

Analysis

Blogs

Company

TOP 10

© 2004 - 2026 All copyright are reserved.

Asia

Pakistan warns US over demands to release diplomat

Asia

Israel announces destruction of Hezbollah underground facility in southern Lebanon

Axios: U.S., Iran agree to ceasefire, Doha talks on Strait of Hormuz

Türkiye says Israel using 1915 events decision to cover up crimes against Palestinians

Qatari citizen died from shrapnel wounds on board ship

NEWS FEED

ATTENTION!

ATTENTION!

ATTENTION!