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Eliminating LeT, terror key riders for US aid to Pak | The Kerry-Lugar aid bill that according to Pakistan is the perfect ointment for all its wounds could actually prove a headache for Islamabad as the assistance would be stringed with some significant conditions.
There are numerous conditions which the Gilani government would have to fulfill
to ensure that the 1.5 billion dollars of annual assistance being offered by the
Obama Administration is released. The Secretary of State has to issue a certificate
on these ‘sensitive’ subjects before each installment of the US aid is disbursed,
The News reports. The Secretary of State, under the direction of the President,
has to certify to the appropriate congressional committees that: 1. The Government
of Pakistan is continuing to cooperate with the United States in efforts to dismantle
supplier ‘networks relating to the acquisition of nuclear weapons-related materials’,
such as providing relevant information from or direct access to Pakistani nationals
associated with such networks; 2. The Government of Pakistan during the preceding
fiscal year has demonstrated a sustained commitment to and is making significant
efforts towards combating terrorist groups, consistent with the purposes of assistance
described in section 201, including taking into account the extent to which it
has made progress on matters such as: (a) ceasing support, including by any elements
‘within the Pakistan military or its intelligence agency’, to extremist and terrorist
groups, particularly to any group that has conducted attacks against United States
or coalition forces in Afghanistan, or against the territory or people of neighbouring
countries; (b) preventing al-Qaeda, the Taliban and associated terrorist groups,
such as ‘Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from operating in the territory
of Pakistan, including carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries’,
closing terrorist camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), dismantling
terrorist bases of operations in other parts of the country, including Quetta
and Muridke, and taking action when provided with intelligence about high-level
terrorist targets; and (c) strengthening counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering
laws; and (3) the security forces of Pakistan are not materially and substantially
subverting the political or judicial processes of Pakistan. When asked whether
the Army or other important institutions have been taken on board before agreeing
to such conditions in the bill, Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit, who is currently
in New York, said the bill has been drafted by the US, and hinted that Islamabad
could do nothing in this regard. “Basically this is not our decision and the Americans
have drafted it but the Pakistan government has been in close touch with them.
Acceptance of these conditions is not an issue as we have tried to convince them
that such conditions do not work,” Basit clarified. However, many believe that
President Asif Ali Zardari has commited a blunder by accepting those clauses mentioned
in the aid bill, and that too even without taking all the stakeholders on board.
Some of the members of the Pakistani delegation who are in New York with Zardari
believe that the President would have to face severe consequences for his what
seems to be a big gamble, when he returns to Islamabad. “This is the misguided
vision of a few bloated visionaries in the president’s camp and they will soon
find out the heat of these unacceptable conditions when they return to Pakistan,”
a member of the Pakistani delegation said. |
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