Pakistan places American Diplomat on 'black list' to prevent him from leaving country

Pakistan has put a senior US diplomat on the "black list" to prevent him from leaving the country over his involvement in a fatal road accident that killed a motorcyclist here, a court was told today.

US defence and air attache Colonel Joseph Emmanuel Hall was driving a Land Cruiser that jumped a red light in capital Islamabad to hit a motorbike last month, killing one of the riders and injuring the other.

The victim's family filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to stop the accused from fleeing the country under the guise of diplomatic immunity.

Deputy Attorney General Raja Khalid Mehmood told the court during hearing that the interior ministry had placed his name in the "black list" so that he could not leave Pakistan.

Earlier, the court had asked the government to explain why his name was not placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) that bars an individual from leaving the country.

Mehmmod informed the court that placing someone on the ECL was a lengthy process and instead the interior secretary was allowed to stop anyone from leaving Pakistan for by placing his name on the 'black list'.

He said both the ECL and black list serve the same purpose.

He also said that the accused cannot be arrested or tried due to immunity he enjoyed under the Vienna Convention. But the suspect could be investigated.

The issue of Col Hall has added to the tension between Pakistan and the US who are trying to resolve differences over America's policy for the region and Afghanistan.

A top US State Department official visited Pakistan yesterday during which Islamabad demanded waiver of the diplomatic immunity to Hall, so that he could be prosecuted.