Islamabad (Staff Report): Military Attache Col Joseph Emanuel Hall, who crushed a biker to death in Islamabad and facing travel ban, left for the United States, the US Embassy confirmed on Tuesday.
On Saturday, a special aircraft arrived at Nur Khan Airbase to bring Col. Joseph back. However, the aircraft left empty handed after the diplomat failed to obtain clearance from pertinent authorities.
The US representatives waited for four hours at the Pakistani airbase but the FIA officials did not allow Hall to leave the country as his name was put on the blacklist by the Ministry of Interior. Later, the C-130 returned to Afghanistan without the ‘killer’ diplomat .
According to sources, the US embassy has also handed over passport of the diplomat to FIA immigration officials. However, the FIA team is awaiting orders from the top authorities to release the US official.
Earlier, the federal government had submitted its reply in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), stating that the diplomat can neither be arrested nor be tried. Khalid said that the Vienna Convention ensures immunity to any accident of diplomats occurring during official duty. "A trial can only be held if the immunity is withdrawn.
He asserted that the diplomat’s name is in the 'black list' according to which he cannot leave the country, however, he added that placing the official’s name in the Exit Control List (ECL) is a long process.
A man, identified as 22-year-old Ateeq, died on the support, while his cousin Raheel Ahmad suffered injuries.
The incident took place in the afternoon on the foothills of the Margallas near the zoo. A fast-moving SUV, said to be driven by the US defence and air attaché, jumped the lights and hit a motorcycle carrying two men at a traffic signal.
