Hints of prisoner swap over US official
A senior Pakistani politician has hinted that his government may try to swap an American official accused of murder for a female scientist linked to al-Qaeda.
Religious leaders have drawn thousands of people on to the streets to demand the release of Aafia Siddiqui, right, as the price for freeing Raymond Davis, left Photo: AP
By Rob Crilly, Islamabad 6:39PM GMT 14 Feb 2011
Raymond Davis, a contractor working for the US mission in Pakistan, has been held for more than a fortnight after admitting shooting dead two men, despite American demands that he is entitled to diplomatic immunity.
Babar Awan, Pakistan's law minister, stopped just short of demanding a prisoner swap but linked Davis with the fate of Aafia Siddiqui, who is in prison in the US after being detained in Afghanistan.
She was sentenced to 86 years after being found guilty of trying to kill her American interrogators, provoking anger among Pakistanis who doubt that she was able to grab a rifle and wound US marines in a heavily fortified base. Washington has postponed an important Afghan summit, which was due to be attended by the Pakistani foreign minister next week, as a result of the impasse over Mr Davis.
When asked about how to resolve the case by journalists, Mr Awan linked the two prisoners, and said the US had "a repatriation call and we have a call".
Religious leaders have drawn thousands of people on to the streets to demand the release of Dr Siddiqui as the price for freeing Davis.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Taliban has demanded that the government execute the 36-year-old American.
•A Pakistani court yesterday charged Mumtaz Qadri, a police guard, with the murder of Salman Taseer, a regional governor who opposed the blasphemy laws. Qadri told the judge that he had killed "an apostate", lawyers said.
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