US aircraft returns after diplomat refused clearance to leave Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A US aircraft arrived at Nur Khan Airbase to airlift an American diplomat allegedly involved in a road accident returned on Saturday after the Interior Ministry refused to grant him clearance to leave Pakistan, Geo News reported.

US Military Attache Col Joseph Emanuel Hall rammed his SUV into a motorcycle in Islamabad last month, killer the rider.

On Friday, Islamabad High Court ruled the US diplomat does not enjoy absolute immunity.

The court also granted two weeks to the Ministry of Interior Affairs to decide on placing the US diplomat on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Moreover, a security official of Colonel Hall has been arrested on the orders of AIG Islamabad for obstructing a police official from performing his duty, a source said.

Arrest orders have also been given for all other officials involved in helping Colonel Joseph flee from the police station, sources told the channel.

The US diplomat was let go by police officials in Islamabad as the law — Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 — provided the diplomat immunity from criminal prosecution.