Pakistan court delays immunity ruling on CIA agent
LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A Pakistani court on Thursday delayed until next month a hearing into the diplomatic immunity of an American who killed two local men, a case that has pushed ties between Islamabad and Washington toward breaking point.
The postponement to March 14 will likely be met with exasperation in Washington, where the Obama administration has urged Pakistan to free consular employee Raymond Davis and avoid a precedent being set for trials of U.S. officials abroad. The High Court in the city of Lahore granted a government request to postpone the hearing on whether Davis, a former Special Forces soldier who shot and killed two men on January 27, is protected by diplomatic immunity. Davis, who is assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, has said he was acting in self-defense during an armed robbery in the city.
Pakistan is an important U.S. ally in the fight against Islamist militants along the border with Afghanistan. Yet the government of President Asif Ali Zardari, battling its own insurgency and struggling to hold together a fragile political coalition, is reluctant to ignite popular fury in a case that has galvanized anti-American sentiment. Pakistani officials, in asking for a delay, may be trying to buy time so tensions can ebb and officials can work behind the scenes to broker a way out of their dilemma.
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