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U.S. talks Davis case in Pakistan

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. envoy to Pakistan met with officials in Islamabad to discuss the case of U.S. diplomat and alleged CIA contractor Raymond Davis, a U.S. spokesman said.

Washington is standing firm on its legal position that Davis enjoys full diplomatic immunity and Pakistan therefore has no right to incarcerate or prosecute him. The most Islamabad can do is to expel Davis, U.S. officials said.

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U.S. and Pakistani officials say Davis was working for the CIA inside the country, the Los Angeles Times reported. The State Departments lists him officially as a "member of the administrative and technical staff of the Embassy in Islamabad."

Davis was arrested in January in connection with the shooting deaths of two Pakistanis who he said were trying to rob him. Washington had maintained he was acting in self-defense.

A court in Lahore ruled that Pakistani authorities have until March 14 to decide his diplomatic status. P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter met with Pakistani authorities in an effort to resolve the issue.

Asked whether Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity regardless of his status, Crowley answered in the affirmative.

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The New York Times reported that Pakistani protesters, already upset by the CIA's drone missile program, want Davis hanged.

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