WASHINGTON: The US government has said that it will provide evidence in a Pakistani court that US national Raymond Davis is entitled to diplomatic immunity, television reports said.

US State Department spokesman Philip J Crowley on Monday told reporters that the US government would file a petition for Davis' release in a court on Thursday and provide evidence regarding Davis' diplomatic immunity.

Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity and that he should be released from detention, Crowley said, adding that Washington was building a strategic partnership with Pakistan and expected Islamabad to implement the international convention.

“We are building a strategic partnership with Pakistan. We are going to build this relationship for the long term. We respect our international obligations, and we expect other countries, including Pakistan, to do the same.”

Davis shot dead two men in Lahore on January 27 and last week the police rejected his self-defence claim saying it was a clear case of murder.