WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The case of a CIA contractor held in Pakistan for killing two men raises questions about those working abroad under diplomatic immunity, experts say.
The case of American Raymond Davis, accused in the Jan. 27 shootings in Lahore of two men he said he thought were going rob him, has deeply strained relations between the two countries with no immediate solution in sight and reports saying Pakistani courts could prosecute him for murder.
Pakistan protesters, already irate over the Central Intelligence Agency's drone missile program for killing militant suspects in their territory, want Davis hanged, The New York Times-International Herald Tribune reported.
However, U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is firm on its legal standing that Davis enjoys full diplomatic immunity and hence Pakistan has no right to incarcerate or prosecute him, the report said. The most Islamabad can do is expel Davis.
U.S. officials say Davis was part of a covert, CIA-led team collecting intelligence on militant groups in Pakistan.
While the principle of immunity is that diplomats are bound only by laws of their countries and not those where they are posted, the Times said the U.S. State Department created confusion through contradictory statements about whether Davis worked as a diplomatic official or a consular one.
Consular officials have weaker legal protections as they are regarded as administrators and not diplomats and can face prosecution for grave crimes.
The report said regardless of how it is resolved, the Davis issue is likely to be included in the list of notable disputes over diplomatic immunity.
