Raymond Davis
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already cancelled one meeting and the diplomatic row threatens talks due later this month on the war in Afghanistan. The freeze comes as a damning US watchdog report reveals that aid money lavished on Pakistan – almost $4bn since 2009 – as part of a strategy to foster closer ties has failed to show any change.
The case of Raymond Davis has convulsed Pakistan, opening a fresh seam of anti-American anger and unleashing a wave of speculation about what an American diplomat was doing driving alone in a Honda Civic through the streets of Lahore with a Glock handgun.
Pakistan has so far refused to release Davis despite US insistence that he is entitled to diplomatic immunity.
The US has warned Pakistan that it would consider cutting aid unless Davis is freed.
