High-level talks between the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan set for this month have been postponed. The cancellation was announced by the US State Department amid a growing crisis sparked by the arrest in Pakistan of an American accused of murder.

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The annual talks, in which ministers and other top officials outline progress on issues such as the war in Afghanistan, were scheduled for 23-24 February in Washington.

The diplomatic crisis has boiled up in recent weeks over the detention of Raymond Davis, who shot two Pakistani motorcyclists on 27 January in Lahore.

US officials say he believed he was about to get robbed and that he should be covered by diplomatic immunity.

The US consulate general in Lahore sent a vehicle to recover Davis, but it ran over and killed a third Pakistani man before fleeing the scene.

Pakistani police reject the American's self-defence claim and accuse him of murder.

A court has extended his remand.



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