Pakistan puts American CIA spy on trial for double killing as angry mob chants for his execution



Raymond Davis faces possible execution if convicted

Thousands of Pakistanis stage rally and call for his head

Washington insists ex-special forces soldier has diplomatic immunity



An American CIA agent accused of killing two men in Lahore faced court today as Pakistan defied intense American pressure to release him on diplomatic immunity .

Raymond Davis appeared in court in Kot Lakhpat jail - where he has been held since January 27 - amid tight security, and with the press and public banned.



Outside, thousands of Islamists turned out chanting slogans calling for him to receive the death penalty.

Davis, who says he acted in self-defence when he shot the men on a busy street last month, has been charged with double murder and faces possible execution.

The case has triggered a major diplomatic row between America and Pakistan after Washington insisted he had diplomatic immunity and must be repatriated.

Supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami shout anti-U.S. slogans during a protest rally in Lahore against CIA contractor Raymond Davis, who is standing trial there accused of killing two Pakistanis

Raymond Davis, pictured being led to court in handcuffs last month, is claiming diplomatic immunity - but U.S. lobbying has fallen off deaf ears

The killings, and Davis's recently revealed CIA links, have inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan, where Washington's already-uneasy alliance with the government is seen as hegemony by many ordinary Pakistanis.



Conflicting accounts about the identity of the victims - Davis and a police report indicate they were armed robbers; Pakistani media and some officials portray them as innocent - have also given President Ali Asif Zardari's unpopular government little choice but to go through the courts.



'He should be treated the same way he treated Pakistanis,' said Muzammil Mukhtar, a labourer in a factory near the jail.



'We should not care about our relations with America. These have never been good.'

Davis's trial was held inside Kot Lakhpat jail, where he has been detained since February 11 amid extremely tight security.



He refused to sign a charge sheet that was offered to him, claiming diplomatic immunity.



The judge also asked whether Davis had engaged a defence attorney, to which Davis replied that he did not want to participate in the case because he has immunity from prosecution under international agreements covering diplomats.

Prosecutor Abdus Samad said Davis would be formally charged on March 3 at the next hearing.



The U.S. Embassy declined to immediately comment, though a spokesman confirmed that representatives of the U.S. consulate in Lahore were present at the hearing.



U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity have acknowledged that he did security work as a contractor for the CIA, but was apparently in Pakistan under a diplomatic cover.



American officials, nonetheless, say his exact job has no bearing on whether he qualifies for diplomatic immunity based on their readings of international agreements.



They say they notified the Pakistani government of his official position as an 'administrative and technical staff' member of the embassy more than a year ago.

Protesters have burned effigies of Davis and U.S. flags since details of the killings became public, sparking concerns about his safety.



U.S. Consul General General Carmela A. Conroy attended the trial, but reporters and families of other prisoners were not allowed inside.



Activists demand the death penalty for Raymond Davis, who claims he acted in self-defence after being threatened by the robbers

The murder trial is the first of two legal cases involving Davis.



On March 14, a Lahore court will decide whether he enjoys diplomatic immunity, another contentious issue that Pakistan's government has said must be decided legally, at the risk of possibly losing out on up to $3 billion a year in military and civilian U.S. aid.

'Davis case is not so simple as it is sometimes portrayed by some. It is a complex case involving issues in national and international law as well as grave sensitivities that cannot be wished away,' presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.



'The court has not only taken cognisance of it but also declared that it will decide on the immunity issue. We respect the court and will wait for its verdict,' he added.

'Davis deserves no pardon ... We knew from day one that he was working for the CIA and Blackwater,' said Mohammad Waseem, brother of Mohammad Faheem, one of the men allegedly killed by Davis.



Pakistani youths carry placards as they shout slogans during a protest against arrested Raymond Davis, in Karachi

Earlier this month, Faheem's widow Shumaila committed suicide by eating rat poison.



In addition to igniting a diplomatic standoff, Davis' case has strained, but not broken, relations between the CIA and Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which did not know of Davis' presence in the country.



CIA-ISI ties are essential to battling Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, where U.S. and other foreign forces are fighting an almost-decade-old war which has become increasingly bloodier over the past few months.

Relations between the spy agencies took a blow in December, when the CIA station chief in Islamabad was forced to leave the country after his name was published in a court filing over drone attacks. Davis' case made matter worse.

'Post incident conduct of CIA has virtually put the partnership into question... it is hard to predict if the relationship will ever reach the level at which it was prior to the Davis episode,' the ISI said in a letter to the Wall Street Journal last week.



The United States says it holds Pakistan responsible for Davis' safety, and prison sources say his cell is an area isolated from other prisoners and under constant surveillance and heavy guard.



There is some reason for worry in Pakistan, where rogue security forces have at times turned on government officials.

