A US official on Friday denied that Washington had threatened to downgrade its diplomatic relations with Islamabad in an attempt to secure the release of one of its citizens held for double murder in Pakistan. A report earlier Friday by ABC News said US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon told the Pakistani ambassador Monday to release the suspect or face diplomatic consequences.
But a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Pakistan told the German Press Agency dpa that the ABC report was "completely untrue" and "totally inaccurate." The report said Donilon threatened Ambassador Husain Haqqani with expulsion from the United States, the closure of US consulates in Pakistan and the cancellation of an upcoming visit by the Pakistani president if US citizen Raymond Davis was not released by Friday. ABC cited two Pakistani officials and a senior US official as its sources.
The Pakistani authorities have denied Davis' self-defence plea, and charged him for double murder, despite repeated calls from the US to respect his diplomatic immunity. Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen told reporters Friday that "Neither the weapon of Fahim (one of the killed) was loaded nor it was pointed at Mr Raymond. All the bullets were in the magazine and there was no bullet in the chamber."
Tareen alleged that Davis fired 10 bullets at the two men and even shot one of them in the back as he tried to flee. The US embassy in Islamabad has said that Davis, a former member of the US Special Forces, was employed as a technical and security advisor by the US consulate in Pakistan, and has diplomatic immunity.
Pakistani officials have privately alleged that Davis was an officer of the US Central Intelligence Agency on a diplomatic visa. The incident has strained relations between the two uneasy partners in the international fight against terrorism. Hundreds of people rallied in Lahore after Friday prayers to protest any attempt to free Davis. "Hang the Killer," read one placard waved by demonstrators, who chanted "Americans are murderers" and "Death to America," according to witnesses.
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