Scammer
Banned
-- A Pakistani judge on Thursday postponed until March 14 a hearing for a jailed American diplomat accused of shooting and killing two men, a government official said.
Thursday's hearing was delayed after the Foreign Ministry asked that it be given three weeks to respond to questions from the Lahore High Court about whether Raymond Davis is entitled to diplomatic immunity, according to Khawaja Haris, a senior government attorney.
Davis was not in court and neither was his lawyer or any representative from the U.S. Embassy, Haris said.
Last week, a Pakistani court ordered Davis to remain in custody for 14 more days. Another hearing on a separate issue will be held on the case later this month. Davis' lawyer has filed a petition, challenging the court's jurisdiction over the case. A judge will hear arguments on February 25.
Davis said he was attacked by the two men as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood, according to the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.
Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen has rejected Davis' claim that he shot the men in self-defense, telling reporters, "It was clear-cut murder."
Tareen acknowledged the two men were armed and that one of them pointed his gun at Davis. However, he said, the man didn't shoot, because "all the bullets were in their chamber."
A police report submitted in court appears to contradict that assertion, saying that the chambers of both the victims' pistols were empty.
The report cites witnesses as saying Davis first fired at the victims from inside his car, then stepped out and fired twice at the back of one of the victims.
On Wednesday, a U.S. official who has seen the first report from the Lahore police following the shooting incident said the report indicates it was an attempted robbery.
According to the official, who spoke on condition of not being identified, the initial police report mentions that two Pakistanis were robbed earlier in the day by the two men killed in the Davis shootings. In addition, the U.S. official said, the cell phones of the robbery victims were found on
the bodies of the two men who were shot, and the robbery victims provided statements implicating the two dead men.
The U.S. official also said Davis shot only from inside his vehicle.
Meanwhile, a senior State Department official separately confirmed the details in the initial police report about the two Pakistanis being robbed earlier in the day by the two people killed in the Davis shootings.
Davis' arrest has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a key ally in the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, and many Pakistanis are outraged by the incident. During several protests earlier this month, hard-line Pakistani clerics condemned the
shootings and demanded the government not release Davis to the U.S. government.
Davis has been detained since the shooting on January 27, an incarceration U.S. officials call illegal.
He is a contractor for the group Hyperion Protective Consultants LLC, and was attached to the U.S. Embassy contingent in Pakistan as a "technical and administrative official," according to American officials, who say he falls under the label of "diplomat."
Under international agreements, people carrying diplomatic passports are granted diplomatic immunity, the State Department says, and Davis was carrying such a passport.
The United States says Davis was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad but was working at the U.S. Consulate in Lahore at the time of the shootings.
Thursday's hearing was delayed after the Foreign Ministry asked that it be given three weeks to respond to questions from the Lahore High Court about whether Raymond Davis is entitled to diplomatic immunity, according to Khawaja Haris, a senior government attorney.
Davis was not in court and neither was his lawyer or any representative from the U.S. Embassy, Haris said.
Last week, a Pakistani court ordered Davis to remain in custody for 14 more days. Another hearing on a separate issue will be held on the case later this month. Davis' lawyer has filed a petition, challenging the court's jurisdiction over the case. A judge will hear arguments on February 25.
Davis said he was attacked by the two men as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood, according to the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.
Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen has rejected Davis' claim that he shot the men in self-defense, telling reporters, "It was clear-cut murder."
Tareen acknowledged the two men were armed and that one of them pointed his gun at Davis. However, he said, the man didn't shoot, because "all the bullets were in their chamber."
A police report submitted in court appears to contradict that assertion, saying that the chambers of both the victims' pistols were empty.
The report cites witnesses as saying Davis first fired at the victims from inside his car, then stepped out and fired twice at the back of one of the victims.
On Wednesday, a U.S. official who has seen the first report from the Lahore police following the shooting incident said the report indicates it was an attempted robbery.
According to the official, who spoke on condition of not being identified, the initial police report mentions that two Pakistanis were robbed earlier in the day by the two men killed in the Davis shootings. In addition, the U.S. official said, the cell phones of the robbery victims were found on
the bodies of the two men who were shot, and the robbery victims provided statements implicating the two dead men.
The U.S. official also said Davis shot only from inside his vehicle.
Meanwhile, a senior State Department official separately confirmed the details in the initial police report about the two Pakistanis being robbed earlier in the day by the two people killed in the Davis shootings.
Davis' arrest has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a key ally in the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, and many Pakistanis are outraged by the incident. During several protests earlier this month, hard-line Pakistani clerics condemned the
shootings and demanded the government not release Davis to the U.S. government.
Davis has been detained since the shooting on January 27, an incarceration U.S. officials call illegal.
He is a contractor for the group Hyperion Protective Consultants LLC, and was attached to the U.S. Embassy contingent in Pakistan as a "technical and administrative official," according to American officials, who say he falls under the label of "diplomat."
Under international agreements, people carrying diplomatic passports are granted diplomatic immunity, the State Department says, and Davis was carrying such a passport.
The United States says Davis was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad but was working at the U.S. Consulate in Lahore at the time of the shootings.
