Diplomatic storm over killings puts aid at risk

Pakistani police yesterday claimed that an American held over two shootings committed "cold-blooded murder," while a judge ordered his detention to be extended for 14 days and told the government to say whether he has diplomatic immunity.

The claims and extended detention are likely to further inflame tensions over the case between the US and Pakistan, whose partnership is key to ending the war in Afghanistan.

The US said the American, Raymond Davis, 36, shot two Pakistanis in Lahore on 27 January because they were trying to rob him. 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 if he is not freed.

Pakistani leaders, loathe to incur a backlash in a public already rife with anti-US sentiment, have for days avoided making definitive statements on Davis's legal status, saying the issue is up to the courts.

Yesterday, Judge Anik Anwar ordered Davis be taken from police custody and held in a local jail for at least two more weeks. In response to defence requests, he also ordered that the government tell the court whether he has diplomatic immunity.

Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen announced that a police investigation determined Davis was not defending himself.

"It was an intentional and cold-blooded murder," Mr Tareen said.

The police chief said Davis told interrogators that one of the men had pointed his pistol at him. However, Mr Tareen said, the slain man's pistol had been examined, showing its magazine was loaded but no round was in the chamber ready to fire. The American shot and killed the second man as he tried to flee, Mr Tareen said.