US considers tougher approach

A stand-off between the United States and Pakistan over a jailed American embassy worker took an ominous turn Friday when police accused the man of ``cold-blooded murder' and the US responded with thinly veiled threats to cut valued aid and access for Pakistan unless he is released immediately.
The case of Raymond Allen Davis has opened one of the worst breaches in memory between the United States and a critical counterterrorism partner. His detention has become a point of national honour for both nations, and a rallying point for anti-American suspicion in Pakistan. US officials hinted broadly that they may cancel or postpone an invitation to Pakistan's foreign minister to visit Washington this month.
Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is before a court, said the Obama administration also is considering a slowdown in visa processing for Pakistanis seeking to come to the United States. That would be hugely unpopular in Pakistan, where grievance already runs high over the perception that the US discriminates or holds back in granting visas to Pakistanis.
The US also is considering suspending or cutting back on military and educational training programs with the Pakistani armed forces and suspending or cutting back on civilian educational, scientific, cultural and local and state government exchanges, one official said. Pakistan is considered a key to US success in next-door Afghanistan, and although the country's civilian leaders rely on US aid and protection, some have warned that the Davis case hits too close to the nerve for ordinary Pakistanis.
Davis, 36, claims he shot and killed two Pakistanis on January 27 because they were trying to rob him. He was arrested immediately, and has been jailed since despite US claims that he holds diplomatic immunity from prosecution and acted in self-defence.
On Friday a Pakistani judge ordered Davis jailed an additional 14 days and police termed the incident ``cold-blooded murder.' The US consul general in Lahore, Carmela Conroy, responded with a stern demand for his prompt release. She implied that Pakistani authorities were overlooking facts in the case, including that one of the dead men was armed, in order to make an example of Davis.
``Under the rules, he should be freed immediately,' Conroy said in a statement. Other US officials acknowledged that such a quick fix was unlikely. Officials familiar with the administration's strategy said the United States was treading carefully, aware that the case could destabilise Pakistan's government or become a ``line in the sand' if the Pakistanis determine that the populist pressure is too strong. With Pakistan serving as a key transit point for US materiel heading to Afghanistan, there are larger issues that the US cannot risk damaging.
Cancelling a three-way session among Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and top Pakistani and Afghan diplomats would be a significant slap. Pakistan prizes the forum as a means to assert influence in Afghanistan. The talks are scheduled for February 24 in Washington.
Clinton already registered diplomatic displeasure by letting it be known she would snub Pakistan's foreign minister if he tried to meet with her during a conference in Germany last weekend. A senior US official also confirmed that President Barack Obama contacted President Asif Zardari over the Davis case, as first reported by ABC News. Obama reiterated the US position that Davis is a diplomat, and his diplomatic immunity should be honoured under terms of the Geneva Convention, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive, high-level talks.
The dispute over Davis has reflected Washington's limited leverage with a Pakistani government it relies on to help fight extremists on its soil and in Afghanistan. And the weak government cannot be pressed too far without looking like American toadies, further eroding its credibility and influence.
``Threats go both ways. Each side has a lot of leverage on the other,' said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst at the Brookings Institution, whose recent book was titled ``Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America and the Future of the Global Jihad.'
``Mr Davis was sent into harm's way by the US government, so we have a responsibility to stand by him,' Riedel said. ``But the Pakistani government cannot afford to look like a puppet of the United States.' That Davis was carrying a gun was enough to attract suspicion in a country where US drone strikes have killed scores of civilians and conspiracy theories abound about armed American mercenaries roaming the country.
The Obama administration insists that Davis was part of the embassy's ``administrative and technical staff,' but Pakistani media reports have focused on his background as a former Special Forces soldier who runs an American ``protective services' company with his wife. The situation has officials of both nations scared. Anti-American politicians and commentators in Pakistan have seized on the killings to criticise the close relationship between the two governments and protesters have demanded that Davis be hanged.
Meanwhile, the wife of one of the men he shot committed suicide last week, saying she was worried Davis would be freed, dramatically raising the pressure on authorities. The element of immunity has further complicated the matter. Pakistani leaders have avoided definitively ruling on Davis' legal status, saying it is up to the courts. The courts have similarly dodged the issue, challenging the government to choose between intervening on behalf of the United States and severely undercutting relations with its biggest aid donor.
In Congress, some demanded an even tougher approach with Pakistan. Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah said Friday he might offer an amendment to Congress' must-pass spending bill next week that would cut off US aid to the country. ``Let's hope they do the right thing,' Chaffetz said in an interview. He said officers determined the slain man's pistol was loaded but no round was in the chamber ready to fire, and the American shot and killed the second Pakistani as he tried to flee, hitting him in the back.
After the shootings, Davis called for backup. The American car rushing to the scene hit a third Pakistani, a bystander, who later died. The United States has said nothing about the Americans involved in that third death, though Pakistani police want them questioned as well. Conroy noted that witnesses to the shooting backed up Davis' self-defence claim, and said the men were found with stolen property. ``We regret that authorities did not consider these eyewitness accounts and physical evidence,' she said. Davis' next hearing is scheduled on February 25.