Pakistan hints at prisoner swap for U.S. official

[cal04]

Source: MSNBC

NBC News: John Kerry heads to country amid diplomatic crisis

Pakistan's law minister has hinted that an American embassy official arrested for killing two people could be swapped for neuroscientist imprisoned for trying to kill U.S. interrogators, according to a report.

Asked how to resolve the case of Raymond Davis — who has been held for two weeks in Pakistan after admitting killing men he says were trying to rob him — law minister Babar Awan told reporters that the U.S. had "a repatriation call and we have a call," the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

The Telegraph said Awan was referring to Aafia Siddiqui, 38, who is serving an 86-year sentence in the U.S. However, he didn't explicitly call for a prisoner exchange.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41594034/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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Sen. Kerry visits Pakistan amid row over U.S. prisoner
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/us-pakistan-usa-idUSTRE71E15520110215

[dipsydoodle]

1. Not registered as a diplomat

Although the United States claims the defendant is a consular officer, Qureshi stated that Davis is not registered as a diplomat in the official documents of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=263960&Itemid=1

[struggle4progress]

2. U.S. plans own criminal investigation of U.S. Embassy guard held in killings in Pakistan

By Greg Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2011; 8:50 PM

The Justice Department plans to conduct a criminal investigation of an American security guard's involvement in the fatal shooting of two Pakistani men last month, according to a senior lawmaker sent by the White House to Pakistan to defuse a growing diplomatic rift.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who arrived in Lahore on Tuesday, told Pakistani reporters that the Justice Department "will conduct its own full criminal investigation regardless of the immunity" that U.S. officials contend should protect the guard from prosecution in Pakistan.

Kerry's disclosure appeared meant to convince authorities in Pakistan that Raymond A. Davis will face legal scrutiny in the United States despite the administration's position that he has diplomatic immunity in Pakistan and should be released.

Kerry's comments came as President Obama made his first public remarks about the case, saying that Pakistan is obligated under international conventions to release Davis, a security contractor who is assigned to the U.S. consulate in Lahore ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/15/AR2011021506165.html

[Nihil]

3. And, of course, that's just *so* believable from past history isn't it?

> Kerry's disclosure appeared meant to convince authorities in Pakistan
> that Raymond A. Davis will face legal scrutiny in the United States

"Yeah, we know all about him but we decided to look forwards not backwards."

:eyes:

[struggle4progress]

4. Article quotes anonymous official as saying Davis unlikely to be charged here

Strange story. US has said "Davis" is not his name. Pakistan says his name didn't appear on their list of diplomats

Kerry was chair of the Foreign Relations Committe last fall when it forwarded to the full Senate the nomination of Cameron Munter as Ambassador to Pakistan, replacing Anne Patterson who had served since 2007. So the Bush gang controlled that post for nearly a decade, and Kerry might be a reasonable choice to feel out what's going on

I don't expect informative public statements in such a case