Taliban warns Pakistan against releasing U.S. prisoner

U.S. Senator John Kerry was due in Pakistan as part of the Obama administration's efforts to resolve the crisis.

Raymond Davis, the U.S. consular employee jailed in the Pakistani city of Lahore for shooting two Pakistanis last month, says he acted in self-defense during an armed robbery.

Washington insists Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released but the Pakistani government, fearful of a backlash from Pakistanis already wary of the United States and enraged by the shooting, says the matter should be decided in court.

"If (Pakistani) rulers hand him over to America then we will target these rulers. If Pakistani courts cannot punish Davis then they should hand him over to us," said Azam Tariq, spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban movement of Pakistan).

"We will give exemplary punishment to the killer Davis."

On Thursday, the United States is expected to present a petition to a Lahore court to certify that Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released.

The warning from the al-Qaeda linked Taliban, which has kept up suicide bombings to destabilize Pakistan's government despite several army offensives, underscores the charged atmosphere surrounding Davis' case.

Cash-strapped Pakistan, one of the largest non-NATO recipients of American military aid, is loathe to risk losing U.S. support by keeping Davis in jail but also fears antagonizing Islamist groups who see the government as a U.S. puppet.

The issue has become a lightning rod for anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, which the United States counts as an important, if unreliable, ally in its war against militancy.

Davis' fate is certain to come up between Kerry, the influential chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and member of President Barack Obama's Democratic party, in his meetings with Pakistani officials.

GOVERNMENT FACES PRESSURE

Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious and political party capable of organizing large protests, accused the United States of exerting "unprincipled and unlawful" pressure on Pakistan.

"Why is America hell bent on trampling on Pakistani law and its judicial system? We will forcefully protest if he is released without a court order," Jamaat-e-Islami deputy chief Liaquat Baluch told Reuters.

Religious parties don't win many votes in elections. But the government can't afford to ignore the groups who often seize on issues concerning the United States to promote their cause.

"Of course he (Davis) should not be released. He has committed a crime and he should be punished. He doesn't have immunity," said Yahya Mujhaid, a spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which was blacklisted by the U.N. over its links to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group blamed for the 2008 attack on Mumbai. It denies it has links to the LeT.

"If he is released, we will register our protest but in a peaceful way. We will hold rallies ... Not only us, the whole of Pakistan will protest against any such move."

Some members of the Pakistani media, which has in the past accused U.S. aid workers of being spies, have also called for Davis to be put on trial in Pakistan.

"Raymond Davis is not a diplomat but a U.S. spy," the Taliban spokesman said.

Supporters of the slain men have held protests and burned U.S. flags. In addition to the two men Davis shot, a third man was killed when a U.S. consulate vehicle, apparently trying to rescue Davis, struck and killed a passer-by.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the provincial government sent the U.S. consulate reminders that it should hand over the car and the driver who killed the man.