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Summary US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday Pakistan must respect the diplomatic immunity of a US consular employee jailed for shooting dead two Pakistanis, in a case straining ties between the allies.
Obama said Washington was working with Islamabad to secure the release of Raymond Davis, a former member of US Special Forces, who said he acted in self defence in an armed robbery in the city of Lahore last month. Washington says Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released but the Pakistani government, fearful of a backlash from Pakistanis already wary of the United States and enraged by the shooting, says the matter should be decided in court. Talking to a news conference in Washington, Obama said that if our diplomats are in another country, then they are not subject to that countrys local prosecution and we respect it with respect to diplomats who are here.Freeing Davis could be risky for the unpopular Pakistani government, already struggling with a stagnant economy, growing discontent over rampant corruption, poverty and power cuts.Pakistans Al-Qaeda linked Taliban warned earlier on Tuesday it would punish any move to release Davis.
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