New Delhi: The US has put on hold all top-level contact with Pakistan for not releasing a diplomat who killed two people allegedly in self defence.
Thirty six-year-old Raymond Davis is listed as a member of the "technical and administrative staff" at the US Embassy in Islamabad. American officials have said Davis' work was "security" related, fueling speculation that he is a CIA agent.
On January 27, Davis shot and killed two Pakistanis, who he said, tried to rob him on their motorcycles. Now, Washington is demanding Davis' immediate release, citing diplomatic immunity, but Islamabad is not budging.
According to The Washington Post, things have become very bad. It says:
The Obama administration has now suspended all high-level dialogue with Pakistan
A planned US-Pakistan-Afghanistan summit at the end of the month in Washington may also be scrapped
In protest, Hillary Clinton canceled a meeting over the weekend with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at a security conference in Munich
The US administration has formally complained to Pakistan, including in a phone call last week from Hillary Clinton to President Zardari
Other reports say President Zardari's visit to Washington in March may be cancelled.
"The phone call with President Zardari was largely about this issue," said PJ Crowley, State Department Spokesman.
In Pakistan itself, the incident has fueled more anti-Americanism, and this hasn't helped. On Monday, the wife of one of the Pakistani men killed by Davis, committed suicide, by eating rat poison. This was her funeral procession. A doctor said Shumaila Kanwal had said before she died that she was driven to commit suicide by fears the American would be freed without trial.
In another twist, the Pakistani media has said the two men shot by Davis were not robbers, but intelligence agents assigned to tail him.
The case puts Pakistan's government in a difficult position. If they hand over Davis, the strong anti-American lobby will accuse them of buckling under pressure. If they don't, it could seriously harm ties with the US, which gives Pakistan billions of dollars in aid.
(source:ndtv.com)
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