An American jailed for shooting two Pakistanis is shielded by diplomatic immunity, a Pakistani official said today, but local courts are likely have the final say in a case that has ignited a bruising row between two strategic allies.
Despite signals the Pakistani government is yielding to US pressure to back the release of consular employee Raymond Davis, his fate remained unclear as the killings stirred up fierce anti-US sentiment that could put Pakistan’s unpopular leadership at risk.
Davis shot dead two Pakistanis last month in what he said was self-defence during an armed robbery. The Lahore High Court will hold another hearing in the case Thursday, during which the United States is expected to present a petition to certify that Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released.
But the Pakistani official said that would not guarantee his release.
“We will present all relevant laws and rules about immunity before the court and will plead that prima facie it is a case of diplomatic immunity. But it is for the court to decide,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The row over the US national is the latest issue straining ties between two nations that are supposed to be working to stamp out a tenacious Islamist insurgency that has fuelled attacks against US soldiers in neighbouring Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama waded into the fray yesterday, saying the United States was working with Pakistan, a major recipient of US aid, to secure the release of the former US special forces soldier now locked in a Lahore jail.
‘BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA’
The fragile government in Islamabad, mired in a battle against militants, struggling with a stagnant economy and fearful of backlash from its people, appeared to be willing to go only so far to placate its American allies.
“We are facing difficult decisions. There is a political price,” Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, speaking at a religious event in Islamabad, said today.
“If we make one decision, the people won’t support it. If we make another decision, the world doesn’t support it. We’re caught between the devil and the deep blue sea,” he said.
Obama sent Senator John Kerry to Pakistan to help secure Davis’ release.
Gilani, in a statement released by his office after meeting Kerry, said the situation could be defused if the United States, in accordance with Islamic sharia law, offered blood money to the families of the slain Pakistanis, and the payment was accepted.
The issue has become a lightning rod for anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, which the United States counts as an important, if unreliable, ally in its war against militancy.
While most officials are saying the court must weigh in, the case has revealed divisions within the Pakistani establishment.
“The question is, whatever happens, will the government be able to sell it to the public and the family of the victims. Right now it’s a very emotional issue,” said Rifaat Hussain, a professor at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.
ANOTHER EGYPT?
Hundreds of Pakistanis have held rallies demanding Davis remain in jail, and Pakistan’s al Qaeda-linked Taliban has warned the government it will punish any move to release him.
Imdad Sabir, a school teacher in Lahore, said Pakistan’s integrity was at stake.
“If our rulers give him to the United States, Pakistan will come out onto the streets and protest as people did in Egypt,” he said, referring to the mass demonstrations that forced President Hosni Mubarak out of power earlier this month.
Mohammad Farid, who works at a tea stall just a few metres from where Davis shot the two men, said Davis should be held accountable under Pakistani law.
“The people will get angry and some will stage violent protests if he is released,” Farid said. “People’s sentiments are quite high at the moment.”
Obama sent Senator John Kerry, chair of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee and member of the Democratic Party, to meet Pakistani officials today to try to resolve the crisis.
Kerry said the US Justice Department would conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting but it is unclear whether such a probe would lead to a trial.
Adding to the confusion is the murkiness over Davis’ role at the US consulate. Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper said the government will inform the Lahore High Court that Davis’ status as a member of the consulate’s administrative and technical staff made him eligible for diplomatic immunity.
While consular staff may not qualify for the same immunity that diplomats get, the United States says Davis was assigned to the US embassy in Islamabad and is therefore covered.
While Pakistani courts are now seen as relatively independent, former US ambassador Anne Patterson called the Lahore High Court where Davis could be tried “unpredictable and anti-American” in a 2010 cable revealed by WikiLeaks.
0 comments:
Post a Comment