US shooter indicted in double murder case in Pakistan
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A Pakistani court on Wednesday formally framed charges against a CIA contractor for killing two Pakistanis in January this year, local sources said.
Judge Yousaf Ojla, district judge, argued that Raymond Davis should be put on trial for the killing of two Pakistanis in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, on Jan. 27.
The judge heard the case inside a heavily-guarded Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, according to police. He ruled that the U.S. employee will be given an opportunity to produce witnesses in his defense.
U.S. diplomats and relatives of the slain men were present in the court.
A U.S. embassy spokesman said that the administration will look into the court's verdict.
Raymond Davis claimed that he had shot dead two men in self defense but the investigators said that he intentionally killed the two persons. A third Pakistani was also killed when struck by a U.S. diplomatic vehicle rushing to Davis' aid.
Last month Davis had refused to sign a charge-sheet after the document was handed over to him by lawyers of the slain men, insisting he has diplomatic immunity.
The U.S. opposes trial of Davis and insists that he has diplomatic immunity and can not be tried in courts. U.S. President Barack Obama and other senior officials have called for his release on the basis of his diplomatic immunity but Pakistanis courts will decide the question of immunity.
The incident has sparked anti-American sentiment across the country and also created doubts about the activities of many CIA agents in Pakistan. Reports suggest that Pakistan's main spy agency, the ISI, has asked the CIA to provide details of its agents in Pakistan.
Pakistani intelligence officials said that Davis' arrest has had a negative effect on cooperation with their American counterparts.
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