Saturday, February 5, 2011

Looming Pak-U.S diplomatic crisis may explode to what consequences? | Geo Blog - Pakistan's fastest growing Blog

Looming Pak-U.S diplomatic crisis may explode to what consequences?
Pakistan on Saturday said that the matter relating to the killing of three Pakistanis in Lahore involving a US functionary is sub-judice in a court of law and the legal process should be respected.

“This matter is sub-judice in a court of law and the legal process should be respected,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Basit said in a statement, adding that a report was awaited from the Punjab Police. “And for this reason, the ministry has no substantive comments to offer,” he added.

Earlier, the United States had called for the immediate release of an American diplomat charged with murdering two civilians and possessing an illegal weapon, claiming that Pakistani authorities have detained the diplomat unlawfully and in violation of international law and he, therefore, be freed from the illegal detention.

Contrary to the claims of investigators that the under-investigation American involved in the murder of two civilians in Lahore was in Pakistan on a visit visa and not on a diplomatic assignment, the US Embassy maintained that “the diplomat, assigned to the US Embassy in Islamabad, had a US diplomatic passport and Pakistani visa valid until June 2012”. “He is a diplomat who qualifies for immunity from prosecution and was illegally detained,” the embassy asserted.

Later, U.S Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter, who rang up PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday, lamenting the killing of the two civilians in Lahore said the US official was entitled to diplomatic immunity. Sharif tersely told the U.S envoy that “the matter was sub-judice and the court was a competent authority to decide on the arrested US official involved in the killing of two Pakistanis.

The American, identified by police as Raymond Davis, told a court on Friday he had acted in self-defence after fleeing what he said was a robbery attempt. He has been remanded in police custody for six days for questioning.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the US should respect Pakistan’s courts and should raise the issue of diplomatic immunity there. “The Punjab government respects the sentiments of the Pakistani public and wants to fulfill legal requirements,” he said. He further said that American influence would not be allowed to affect the criminal proceedings.

True, but will Rana Sanaullah also ensure the extremists religious rights and the militants do not terrorize the investigators, the police, the prosecution, the witnesses and above all the courts to tailor justice in accordance with their wishes, as it happened in most of the high profile terror cases in recent past?

The state organizations, the civil society and the main stream political parties all seem to have capitulated to the extremists/militants so much so that they even dictated not letting a condolence resolution relating to former slain Governor Taseer presented or offer ‘Fateha’ in the Senate session the other day. Will they also be able to force an out of courts settlement leading to a swap of Afia with Davis?

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