Opinion Envoy or not?

Dawn reported that President Asif Ali Zardari has turned down a demand to hand Davis over to the US: “President Zardari came under immense pressure when a six-member delegation of US congressmen called on him and sought diplomatic immunity for the arrested US national and said he should be handed over to the US government forthwith. The president reiterated the stance expressed earlier by PM Yousaf Raza Gilani and PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif that the matter would be decided by the courts.”

Three petitions have been moved in Pakistan’s supreme court to remove Davis’s immunity,reported Daily Times on February 1. The petitioners requested the court to direct the interior ministry to put Davis on the exit control list. The News added on February 2 that the Lahore high court blocked any move to “extradite” Davis. On February 4,The News reported that the “police presented its initial probe report before the high court saying Davis was not cooperating… another petition has been filed in a sessions court against bail in an illegal weapon case.” Davis contended he acted in self-defence because he thought the victims had come to rob him.

The Express Tribune reported that Davis’s remand had been extended for another eight days. It added that the US Embassy “took offence to the proceedings” on the grounds that Davis was “remanded in court without notice to the US government,without his lawyer present,and without translation assistance. ”

Question marks are now being put on Davis’ s diplomatic status. Dawn reported: “The US government,in a diplomatic dispatch to the government of Pakistan,admitted that not all administrative and technical staffers of embassies and consulates in Pakistan were given diplomatic status… sources in the Pakistan government said Davis’s diplomatic status was dubious… The dispatch further stated that although not all embassy and consulate staffers in Pakistan have diplomatic status,it cannot be concluded that this annuls the diplomatic immunities under the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations. The US government further demanded Pakistan clarify the situation and to not leave the resolution of the issue on the courts.”

Egypt,Tunisia,Pakistan?

With hundreds of thousands out on the streets of the Arab world,Pakistani newspapers suggested this week that the idea of a “political revolution” was gaining momentum in Pakistan as well.

Daily Times reported on January 3: “PM Yousaf Raza Gilani said… the situation in Egypt and Tunisia cannot be compared with that of Pakistan as ‘our institutions are working and democracy is functional’.” Daily Times,however,quoted a PML-Q parliamentarian,Marvi Memon,on February 1 as asking the government to “address the issues being faced by people otherwise a revolutionary move like that of Tunisia and Egypt was imminent in Pakistan… Memon… warned that corruption,extremism,unemployment,lawlessness,inflation,electricity and gas load shedding could set off the atmosphere of ‘revolt’ in the country.”

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The News reported on February 4: “The Benazir Bhutto assassination probe report is ready and available with top PPP leaders but will not be presented to the central executive committee of the party… The report was to be presented during the CEC meeting held on the third anniversary of Benazir’s murder in December 2010 but it was not done because PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto had not reached the country…” The News carried a related report: “The two BlackBerry phones of… Benazir have been found from Bilawal House,Karachi,which could give important information regarding the assassination case…”

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