A US consular employee in Pakistan alleged to have shot dead two gunmen who may have been intent on robbing him could face criminal charges, police said yesterday, in a case that could inflame anti-US anger in the country.
A third Pakistani was killed in the incident on Thursday in the bustling city of Lahore, allegedly after being hit by a US vehicle rushing to the aid of the American.
Police officer Umar Saeed said yesterday the American had told officers he had withdrawn money from an ATM shortly before the incident, raising the possibility the two men were following him.
Other Pakistani officers have said the men were likely robbers and both were carrying pistols.
The issue of US envoys or their security detail carrying weapons inside Pakistan was a hot-button subject last year among certain politicians and sections of the media purportedly worried about the country’s sovereignty.
Many Pakistanis regard the US with suspicion or outright enmity because of its occupation of neighboring Afghanistan and regular missile attacks against militant targets in the northwest.
“‘American Rambo’ goes berserk in Lahore,’” read the headline in the Nation, a right-wing newspaper that frequently publishes unsourced anti-US conspiracy theories.
Western diplomats travel with armed guards in many parts of Pakistan because of the risk of militant attack. Lahore has seen frequent terrorist bombings and shootings over the last two years, though the city’s small expatriate population has not been directly targeted.
The Express Tribune in an editorial said while it was reasonable for Western diplomats to travel armed, shooting in self-defense in the US can result in a conviction, especially if it can be proved that the accused used excessive force.
Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen said the American was being questioned by the police and may be charged with murder and illegally carrying a weapon, a Beretta pistol.
“Diplomatic staff usually enjoy a certain type of immunity, but I am not sure about murder,” he said.
“We will consult the Foreign Office and legal advisers in this regard,” he said.
Police officer Riasat Ali said one of the victim’s brothers had registered a criminal case against the American, a necessary step for the police to begin an investigation.
Robbers on motorbikes pulling up alongside cars and holding them up is quite a common crime in Pakistani cities.
Americans and other foreigners have also been frequently targeted by Islamist militants.
In the city of Peshawar in 2008, gunmen shot and killed a US aid worker as he drove to work. Suspected militants also opened fire on the vehicle of the top US diplomat in the city the same year, but she survived the attack.
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