Islamabad, February 14: Pakistan’s federal law minister has called on the US authorities to exchange a US national currently facing trial for a double murder in Lahore for a Pakistani doctor who was sentenced to 86 years in jail in the US.
“We will demand the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui if America demands the release of Raymond Davis,” said Federal Law Minister Babar Awan at a press conference in Gujranwala on Sunday.
Thirty-eight-year-old Aafia Siddiqui, a highly-educated Pakistani neurologist, is serving 86 years in prison after being found guilty of shooting at two US soldiers in dubious circumstances while in custody in Afghanistan.
The case of Davis, who shot dead two Pakistanis in late January, has raised tensions between Pakistan and the US. The US government insists he enjoys diplomatic immunity and should be released.
Awan’s statement shows a different position than that adopted by the Zardari government, which says the courts will decide Davis’ fate.
Awan, who normally articulates the policy statements of President Asif Ali Zardari, has picked the line of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which has been demanding a prisoner exchange. President Zardari also recently canceled a visit to the US due to the case.
Meanwhile, Shah Mahmud Durrani was not inducted in the federal Cabinet as foreign minister because he reportedly gave an undertaking to the US administration for Davis’ early extradition.
-Agencies