Pakistan court delays immunity ruling on U.S. prisoner

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

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 a breaking point.

The postponement to March 14 will likely exasperate the Obama administration, which has urged Pakistan to free consular employee Raymond Davis and avoid setting a precedent 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.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States remained focused on ensuring Pakistani authorities respected Davis's diplomatic immunity and securing his release.

Pakistan is crucial to the success of the U.S. strategy in neighboring Afghanistan, where lawless western border regions are safe havens for Islamist militants targeting U.S. troops.

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.
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If he has diplomatic immunity then the Pakistanis by international law can't put him on trial regardless of what "public opinion" in the country is.