Let courts decide: Cabinet, core committee

Gilani bars federal ministers, except unspecified “authorised” ones, from issuing public statements on Davis case.

ISLAMABAD: Two high-level meetings on Thursday seem to have resolved to continue to withstand mounting pressure by the United States regarding the case of US citizen Raymond Davis, facing trial for killing two Pakistanis in Lahore last month.

The federal cabinet declared on Thursday that the judiciary will take the ultimate decision on diplomatic immunity – an opinion reiterated later in a core committee meeting of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

But the new cabinet, which  met for the first time since its reconstitution last week, kept it vague whether it had been established that the man who shot dead two people was actually a US diplomat or not.

Presided over by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, the meeting had decided that the federal government would ‘minimise’ its role in the case and let Punjab authorities handle it.

Gilani barred the federal ministers except unspecified “authorised” ones to issue public statements on the issue.

Briefing media after the meeting, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said three ministries—foreign affairs, interior and law—were coordinating to prepare a reply for Lahore High Court (LHC) to decide about the diplomatic status of the accused.

Earlier in the day, the LHC directed the government to inform the court whether the US national charged with killings was actually a diplomat or technical staffer of the US Embassy.

The cabinet’s decision to respect court ruling came amid renewed pressure by the US on Pakistan to honour international conventions, which make diplomats untouchable in criminal proceedings.

But there is confusion about the diplomatic status of Davis. Some media reports recently suggested he is one of several intelligence operatives allegedly working in Pakistan on secret missions.

Washington insists he is a diplomat and is pushing Islamabad to release him immediately.

Awan told the media that the court’s decision would be acceptable for the government and the US must also accept it.

Core committee meeting

President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday told a core committee meeting of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) that he has conveyed to US authorities that the issue of Raymond Davis’ immunity will be decided by the court of law.

“He (President Zardari) said that he had informed the visiting US leader (Senator John Kerry) that the matter was before the court which had already ruled that it will decide the issue of immunity to Davis” Farhatullah Babar, the president’s spokesman quoted Zardari as telling the meeting, which was attended by the PPP inner circle.

The president informed the meeting that he had explained to Kerry, who is the chairman of the (US) Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that the Davis issue was a complex one with several dimensions that needed to be taken into consideration by both sides. He said that he had informed the senator that there was a need to proceed with caution, showing respect to the sensibilities of all concerned.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Gilani also discussed his talks with Kerry on Wednesday on the Davis issue.

Gilani said that he, too, had suggested to Kerry that the US should take into account the ground reality and recognise that the principal stakeholders in the Davis case were the family members of those killed as well as the people of Pakistan.

The meeting also reiterated the PPP and the government position that the partnership between the US and Pakistan should not be held hostage by one single incident.

Babar said that the meeting also discussed, in depth, the current political situation in the country with particular reference to coalition politics.

He said that the meeting also reviewed issues relating to an expansion in the cabinet. Interior Minister Rahman Malik gave a briefing on law and order situation while Law Minister Dr Babar Awan gave a briefing on current legal issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2011.