US diplomat found guilty of killing Pakistanis

Lahore, Feb 11 (IBNS) A Lahore court on Friday found American diplomat Raymond Davis guilty of killing two Pakistani men.

The judicial magistrate's court at Model Town area remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.

"Davis has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The next hearing will be on February 25," Punjab government’s prosecutor Abdul Samad told media outside the court.

He was taken to Kot Lakhpat jail after the court’s order.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has suspended all high-level bilateral contracts and talks with Pakistan over its refusal to release Davis, straining the already loaded ties between the two countries.

Thirty-six-year-old Raymond Davis, a tech and admin staff at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, who is said to be working on “security” issues, has been jailed since Jan. 27 on the double murder charge and speculation that he might be a spy.

Davis has admitted to shooting the two men, Mohammad Faheem and Faizan Haider, who he said were armed and trying to rob him. On Feb 6, the wife of Faheem, took poisonous pills and died.

Calling the incident a tragedy, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley reiterated that Washington believed that Davis had diplomatic immunity and was acting in self-defence.

On Monday (Feb 7), American ambassador Cameron Munter met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and requested that Davis be released, an U.S. embassy spokeswoman said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also said to have raised the issue at a conference in Munich during her talks with Pakistani army chief Ashfaq Kayani over the weekend and has also reportedly cancelled a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

According to The Washington Post, the Obama administration has suspended all high-level dialogue with Pakistan and has even called off a summit between the two nations and Afghanistan in Washington at the end of the month.

In Pakistan, the government risks an outburst from the anti-U.S. lobby which has already been protesting against America over the issue.

The claim by the Faheem’s wife’s doctor that she she killed herself since she did not expect justice from the Zardari-administration has also fanned heated sentiments.

The situation posts an ominous dilemma in front the Pakistani government which is battling growing anti-American protests amid economic and security problems and yet, can’t risk miffing the U.S. that grants the country billions of dollars in aid.

(source:washingtonbanglaradio.com)