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Pakistani police: US man committed 'murder'
[Arab News] Pak police alleged Friday that an American held in a pair of shootings committed "cold-blooded murder," while a judge ordered the man's detention extended for 14 days in a local jail and told the Pak government to clarify if he has diplomatic immunity.

The police claims and extended detention are likely to further inflame tensions over the case between the US and Pakistain, whose always-uneasy partnership is considered key to ending the war in Afghanistan.

The US says the American, 36-year-old Raymond Allen Davis, shot two Paks on Jan. 27 because they were trying to rob him in the eastern city of Lahore. Washington insists his detention is illegal under international agreements covering diplomats because he was a US Embassy staffer, and American officials have begun curbing diplomatic contacts and threatening to cut off billions in aid to Pakistain if he is not freed.

Pak leaders -- loathe to incur a backlash in a public already rife with anti-US sentiment -- have for days avoided making definitive statements on Davis' legal status, saying the issue is up to the courts. The fact that rival political parties control the federal government and the government of Punjab province, where any trial would be held, is further complicating the Pak response.

Tareen said, the slain man's pistol had been examined and officers found that its magazine was loaded with ammunition but no round was in the chamber ready to fire.
On Friday morning, Judge Anik Anwar ordered that Davis be taken from police custody and held in a local jail for at least two more weeks. In response to defense requests, he also ordered that the government tell the court in the coming days whether the American has diplomatic immunity.

Later in the day, Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen declared that a police investigation into the shootings determined Davis was not defending himself.

"It was an intentional and cold-blooded murder," Tareen told a news conference.

The police chief said Davis told interrogators that one of the Pak men had pointed his pistol at him.

However,
The infamous However...
 Tareen said, the slain man's pistol had been examined and officers found that its magazine was loaded with ammunition but no round was in the chamber ready to fire. Police also determined that the American shot and killed the second Pak as he tried to flee, hitting him in the back, Tareen said.

Tareen's remarks left open the possibility that the man with the pistol had still pointed the gun at the American.
Posted by: Fred 2011-02-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=315916