US UPDATE Raymond Davis appears in Pakistan court Incident (US Pakistan Stale-mate)

Arif Ali/
AFP/Getty Images

Pakistani police stand guard outside the Kot Lakhpat jail during today's court hearing.

UPDATE Friday 4:22 PM ET (New York Time) from 2:30 or so ET on NPR.org (US National Public Radio):

February 25, 2011

Raymond Davis, a security contractor for the CIA who last month killed two men in Lahore, Pakistan, in what he says was a case of self defense, today refused to sign the charges leveled against him and asserted his right to diplomatic immunity, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Islamabad.

The court adjourned to March 3. The case has sparked anti-American protests in Pakistan, and there was heavy security around the building where Davis' hearing was held.

GO to npr.org blog to hear Julie's comments http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/02/25/134060247/in-pakistan-detained-american-refuses-to-sign-charging-sheet 's report and read or send comments here

Meanwhile, "American national Aaron Mark Dehaven has been arrested in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Capital, Peshawar, for overstaying illegally in Pakistan, sources told Dawn News (Pakistan's preeminent English newspaper). ... The sources said that DeHeaven had been issued a visa on Jauary 1, 2010 which expired on 30th October 2010 and despite that he kept on staying in Pakistan without a valid visa document which resulted in his arrest."

Dehaven is from West Virginia and is now married to a Pakistani woman, Dawn added.

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For another piece of US new on this case (this time a business site) GO here

Earlier for Friday 9:39 am ET:

CIA employee faces Pakistan court
26 minutes ago (when this was posted here)
Raymond Davis, accused of murdering two men in Lahore, refuses to sign charge ... Raymond Davis, a CIA employee accused of murdering two Pakistanis...
Aljazeera.net - 1250 related articles

News that Raymond Davis is CIA could further jeopardize his return
Christian Science Monitor - 2996 related articles

Related items of possible interest:

Can Pakistan Be held Accountable for American Crimes (as well as their own)?
found on International Justice Network here and here

Short editorial comment from oneheartforpeace blogger:

There seems to have been a bit of a shift recently between the US and Pakistan - "triggered" (in more ways than one) by the so-named "Raymond Davis".

At first this incident may seem to be an impossible state of affairs and near tragic for two nations which may continue to be somewhat inter-dependent. Yet, Pakistan's resolve not to release Davis, whatever the combination of motives, may be helping to add honesty and disallow somewhat colonialist attitudes from the mix.

The fact that key players in Pakistan continue to hold firm may be a signal in the right direction on human rights for both Pakistan and eventually for the US. The reasons to see positives come from this current and quite messy conflict are multitude and have foundations in sound social dynamics rather than the often duplicitous principles of both US and Pakistan's so-called "higher" and "special" intelligence.

When the light of rule of law comes to bear on complicated world events - the education of people everywhere from every class becomes routine. In these times, the most basic rights of persons as well as of nations are rapidly becoming essential in all our foreign affairs. Just law and basic rights both alone and together help prevent dishonest media from hiding actual facts and the formerly missing information to which these are connected.

Then, add to ALL of the above, multi-layered cultural and historical nuances. These are progressively understood by more and more people young and old from all classes in most of our nations. While sometimes helped by formal education, no longer are those highly-motivated limited by the lack thereof. Self-education and life experiences themselves, when reflection comes to bear, is often enough to get the jist of the truth underneath the flimsy lies.

Finally -- as worldwide events move in an unprecedented pace -- information (and often vital information) becomes unstoppable.

Due to all the above named dynamics, atrocities - like cockroaches - have fewer places to hide. Brutal and careless actions should (and often do in our time) have fewer ignorant or manipulated supporters.

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