US official in Pakistan to face murder charge
By BABAR DOGAR, Associated Press
Jan 28, 2011 7:17 AM CST
People look at blood stains at a roadside in Lahore, Pakistan on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011. A U.S. consular employee shot and killed two gunmen as they approached his vehicle in a congested street in Pakistan on Thursday, police said. A pedestrian was also killed by a speeding American car trying to...   (Associated Press)

Pakistan will pursue murder charges against a U.S. consular employee suspected in the shooting deaths of two armed men possibly intent on robbing him, a top prosecutor said Friday.

The weak government, already frequently criticized for being subservient to the United States, will likely come under domestic pressure to be tough on the American. There were several small protests around the country after midday prayers, calling for the American to be punished.

Many Pakistanis regard the U.S. with suspicion or enmity because of its occupation of neighboring Afghanistan and regular missile attacks against militant targets in Pakistan's northwest. The government condemns those attacks, but is widely believed to agree to them privately, further angering its critics.

In a sign of the political sensitivities of the case, Interior Minister Rehman Malik was asked by a lawmaker in parliament whether he was trying to set the American free. "I will never abet a criminal," replied Malik.

A third Pakistani was killed in the incident Thursday in the bustling city of Lahore after being hit by a U.S. vehicle rushing to aid the American, who also in a car, according to police, who have said the driver could also face charges.

Police officer Umar Saeed said the American, who has not been named by American authorities, had told officers he had withdrawn money from an ATM shortly before the incident, raising the possibility the two men were following him. Other Pakistani officers have said the men were likely robbers, were on a motorbike and both were carrying pistols.

Rana Bakhtiar, deputy prosecutor general for Punjab, said the state would pursue murder charges.

"He has killed two men. A case is registered against him on murder charges," he said.

Bakhtiar spoke after the American appeared in a court in Lahore where judges ordered him to remain in police custody for six days.

The man has been named by Pakistani officials but the U.S. State Department says the name is incorrect.

The U.S. Embassy has not said what position the man held at the consulate in Lahore or whether he qualifies for diplomatic immunity.

Under widely accepted international conventions, diplomats are generally free from prosecution, but the level of immunity varies as to what job they do and it's not automatically granted. A temporary consultant working at a mission, for example, may not be protected at all.

Western diplomats travel with armed guards in many parts of Pakistan because of the risk of militant attack. Lahore has seen frequent terrorist bombings and shootings over the last two years, though the city's small expatriate population has not been directly targeted.

In a two-sentence statement, the U.S. Embassy confirmed that a consulate staffer "was involved in an incident yesterday that regrettably resulted in the loss of life." The U.S. was working with Pakistanis to "determine the facts and work toward a resolution," it said.

In the capital, Islamabad, and the city of Karachi, several dozen people burned U.S. flags and chanted slogans.

"Hang the U.S. spy, the killer of three Pakistanis," read one placard.

The issue of American diplomats or their security details carrying weapons inside Pakistan was a hot-button subject last year among certain politicians and sections of the media purportedly worried about the country's sovereignty. They were frequently presented as a threat to ordinary Pakistanis.

"'American Rambo' goes berserk in Lahore,'" read the headline in The Nation, a right-wing newspaper that often publishes anti-U.S. conspiracy theories.

Despite the sensitivities of the case, it seems unlikely either country will allow it to seriously affect ties because the relationship is vital for both. Washington needs Pakistan's support to stabilize Afghanistan and defeat al-Qaida, while Islamabad relies heavily on U.S. aid and diplomatic support.

Robbers on motorbikes pulling up alongside cars and holding them up is a common crime in Pakistani cities.

Americans and other foreigners have also been frequently targeted by Islamist militants in Pakistan.

In the northwestern city of Peshawar in 2008, gunmen shot and killed a U.S. aid worker as he drove to work. Suspected militants also opened fire on the vehicle of the top American diplomat in the city the same year, but she survived the attack.

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