US State Department has admitted that Raymond Davis, involved in 2 persons killing in Lahore, is a staff member of US diplomatic office. Addressing a press conference, State Department official said that Davis was a staff member of technical department of US Consulate adding that some US officials have permitted to keep weapons for their defence. He further said that he would not comment on the incident and wait for court’s decision. Relations between Pakistan and the United States are under strain after a Lahore court refused to release an American who shot dead two Pakistanis and led to the death of a third last week. The US embassy in Islamabad says that Raymond Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released immediately. But the court said it would decide whether he has immunity. It set a second hearing in a fortnight's time. Davis, 36, was driving in Lahore on Thursday when, Pakistani police allege, two men on motorbikes, Mohammad Faheem and Faizan Haider, tried to rob him at gunpoint. In court on Friday, he admitted killing them but said it had been self-defence; the US state department endorsed this claim on Monday. Another Pakistani was killed when he was hit by an American car on its way to rescue Davis. The court is attempting to establish Davis's role at the embassy, with unconfirmed reports in US and Pakistan media describing him as with a private security firm or the CIA. The embassy has not said why he was carrying a gun and has refused to specify his job at the embassy, describing him only as part of the "technical or administrative staff". Pakistan does not allow diplomats to carry guns. A group of US members of Congress on a visit asked President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday to release Davis. Zardari replied: "It would be prudent to wait for the legal course to be completed."
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