World Crisis Online

Pakistan court delays decision on US officialLAHORE, Feb 17 – A Pakistan 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 US 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.

Mr Davis, who is assigned to the US Consulate in Lahore, has said he was acting in self-defence during an armed robbery in the city.

Pakistan is an important US 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 galvanised 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.

“Hang Raymond Davis,” read a banner at the court compound.

The delay may embolden US politicians threatening to reconsider billions of dollars in aid that Pakistan needs to equip its military, rebuild after last year’s punishing floods and tackle rampant poverty.

Many US officials believe generous aid has not brought them Pakistan’s full co-operation in cracking down on Taliban and al-Qaeda militants hiding out along the Afghan border.

Pakistan cannot ignore potentially explosive emotions over the shooting incident, which also resulted in the death of a third man run over by a US vehicle that came to Mr Davis’s rescue.

One of the slain men’s widows committed suicide, further stoking passions in a nation already indignant about escalating strikes by unmanned US drones in the northwest.

Pakistan’s al-Qaeda-linked Taliban has warned the government it will punish any move to free Mr Davis.

While US officials have said the Department of Justice will conduct a criminal investigation of its own, it is unclear whether such a probe would lead to a trial.

Adding to the confusion is the murkiness over Mr Davis’ role at the US consulate. While embassy officials have said he was part of the consulate’s administrative and technical staff, many locals have accused him of being a spy.

© Reuters Limited