My colleague Shakira Hussein wrote on this blog back on 9 February that the Pakistani government was reportedly keen to find a way to release Raymond Davis, the American diplomat (according to Washington) or CIA/Blackwater agent (according to the Pakistani rumour mill) who shot dead two Pakistani youths who he claims tried to rob him at gunpoint as he drove through Lahore. But there was, Shakira pointed out, “no easy way out of this one…” because of pressure on the government to press ahead with a murder trial despite claims by Washington that Mr Davis had diplomatic immunity and should be released. How true his words are proving.

Mr Davis is still behind bars and the Pakistan government is insisting that the courts will determine his fate even though it is now generally accepted that the claim of diplomatic immunity is based on his being a CIA agent