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US
suspends bilateral engagements with Pakistan
Tuesday February 08, 2011 03:58:17 PM,
IANS
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Washington/Islamabad: Scaling up pressure on Pakistan
for the release of Raymond Davis, arrested for fatally shooting
two Pakistanis in Lahore, the US has put on hold high-level
bilateral engagements with Islamabad.
The Barack Obama administration has suspended all high-level
dialogue with key ally Pakistan, The Washington Post quoted US and
Pakistani officials as saying.
Davis was arrested after he shot dead two people riding on a
motorbike at a busy intersection in Lahore Jan 27. He called up
the US consulate after the shooting and a team rushed to help him.
The team's vehicle collided with a motorcyclist, killing him.
The issue has severely strained relations between Washington and
Islamabad, the media report said.
The Obama administration has twice summoned Pakistani Ambassador
Husain Haqqani for formal complaints and reiterated its demand
that Pakistan must recognise Davis's diplomatic immunity and
release him.
The State Department Monday said 36-year-old Davis holds a
diplomatic passport and is a member of the "technical and
administrative staff" at the US Embassy in Islamabad "entitled to
full criminal immunity in accordance with the Vienna Convention".
The administration and Congress, the statement said, "have
repeatedly made clear at the highest levels that this matter must
be resolved by the Pakistan government or it could impact other
bilateral initiatives".
Diplomatic sources told the Dawn that the dispute could impact
three major events planned this year - President Asif Ali
Zardari's visit to Washington, the next round of US-Pakistan
strategic dialogue and trilateral talks involving Pakistan,
Afghanistan and the US.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi last week postponed
a visit to Germany to take part in an international security
conference after Washington told Islamabad that Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton might not be able to meet him because of the
dispute, the media report said.
A diplomatic source said the delay in Zardari's visit planned for
next month "would send wrong signals around the world and would
also embarrass him at home".
Similarly, "delaying the strategic dialogue would have serious
implications", he added.
"The US decision to postpone all bilateral contacts can put
Pakistan at a great disadvantage during the negotiations," the
source was quoted as saying.
The diplomatic row could impact $1.5 billion of annual assistance
for Pakistan.
"...Pakistan has agreed in principle to grant diplomatic immunity
to Mr Davis and send him back to the US," a senior diplomatic
source said in Washington.
"But the government (of Pakistan) is scared of political
repercussions, particularly after the suicide (by one of the
victim's widow Sunday)," the source added.
Islamabad has put Raymond Davis and three other Americans on a
list that prohibits them from leaving the country.
Washington Post quoted a Pakistani intelligence official as saying
that the situation was complicated as two men Davis killed were
not armed robbers, but intelligence agents assigned to tail him.
This official said the two men intended to frighten Davis as he
crossed a "red line" that the official did not further define.
Another Pakistani official said both the military's Inter-Services
Intelligence service (ISI) and the interior ministry's
Intelligence Bureau frequently use motorcycle tails to track the
movement of US officials.
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