ISLAMABAD – After an open threat by the US congressmen to suspend aid to Pakistan, the US has warned it would shut down its consulates except the embassy in Islamabad if the Pakistani government failed to release detained American citizen, Raymond Davis.
Davis was arrested in Lahore on January 27 after he shot dead two Pakistanis claiming they were trying to rob him.
A diplomatic source revealed to Pakistan Today that the US had warned Pakistan that it could reduce its diplomatic presence in Pakistan by closing down the consulates and leaving it only to the embassy in Islamabad to tackle the diplomatic affairs if Davis was not set free.
The US administration has already limited its diplomatic contacts with the Pakistani authorities to the lowest barring talks only on Davis’s issue. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refused to meet Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi recently in Munich (Germany) on the sidelines of Afghanistan-related security talks after which Washington put on hold the crucial trilateral meeting between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan and also upcoming officials’ visits to Islamabad.
Two top members of the US House Armed Services Committee late on Tuesday said US aid to Pakistan was in jeopardy if the country failed to release Davis. Republican Congressmen Howard McKeon and John Kline said they had made it clear to Pakistani leaders during a trip to Islamabad that there would be repercussions if the American were not released.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit was not available for reaction to the US threat of cutting vital funds for Pakistan despite repeated phone calls. However, another FO official said it was ‘worrisome’ for Pakistan.
US arm-twisting over Raymond Davis increases
