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| Supporters of Pakistani party Tehreek-e-Insaaf shout slogans during a protest against the killing of two Pakistanis in Lahore, yesterday |
The US consular employee, whom Pakistani police have identified as Raymond Davis, was arrested a week ago and claimed that he shot dead two motorcyclists in self-defence, fearing that they were about to rob him.
A third Pakistani was run over and killed by a vehicle from the local US consulate that tried to come to Davis’ assistance.
Washington demands the man’s release, saying he has diplomatic immunity, as tempers run high in Pakistan over the incident.
About 250 demonstrators marched on the US consulate in Lahore on Thursday, demanding the “Blackwater agent” be sent to the gallows and the release of a Pakistani woman jailed for the attempted murder of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
Blackwater is the former name of a US private security company, now called Xe Services, which was accused of firing on Iraqi civilians in 2007.
Armed riot police blocked access to the consulate, 3km from the scene of last week’s shooting where the march began, organised by the student wing of cricket hero Imran Khan’s political party.
“We produced the American in the court of magistrate Zafar Iqbal, who extended his remand in police custody to another eight days,” public prosecutor Abdul Samad said earlier.
Pakistani police have registered a case of double murder against the American and Samad said he would be produced next in court on February 11.
The deaths sparked huge controversy in Pakistan, where anti-Americanism runs high, fuelled by the government’s unpopular alliance with Washington, the war in Afghanistan and US missile attacks on Islamists in the northwest.
Washington insists the American is entitled to diplomatic immunity and is therefore being held unlawfully by the Pakistani authorities.
It also supports his version of events that he was confronted by two armed men on motorcycles whom he had reason to believe meant him bodily harm, meaning that he acted in legitimate self-defence.
A Pakistani court has blocked any move to free the American, but Interior Minister Rehman Malik has confirmed he has a diplomatic passport, opening the doors to his possible release.
“Don’t do misreporting based on presumptions, let’s not hype (the issue). We will provide whatever information the court requires,” he told reporters.
Davis was brought to court 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled hearing under tight security with the media kept at a distance.
Armed police cordoned off the court and the American arrived in an armoured personnel carrier, a reporter said.
Relatives of the victims have demanded that the government try Davis under terror charges. Activists and family members on Wednesday shouted “hang Davis” and “death to American dogs” at the scene of the shooting.
Questions remain unanswered about why the American was driving around Lahore with a gun and US officials have refused to confirm his name.