Pakistan dismayed over US congress aid freeze bill

Dec 15, 2011, 13:31 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistan reacted angrily Thursday to proposed legislation in the US congress aiming to freeze 700 million dollars in aid to the country.

The bill already adopted by the House of Representatives attaches conditions for the granting of aid to Pakistan and will become a law once passed by the Senate.

'We believe that the move in the Congress is not based on facts and takes a narrow view of the overall situation. Hence, wrong conclusions are unavoidable,' said Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit.

The new law is likely to create more tension between Islamabad and Washington and hamper common efforts to hunt down militants in the Afghan-Pakistani border region, considered vital for peace in Afghanistan.

Islamabad has already blocked NATO supplies passing through its territory, following an airstrike at a border post last month that Pakistan said killed 24 of its soldiers. It also forced the US to vacate Shamsi airbase in Pakistan.

The US has in turn stepped up pressure on Pakistan, and Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday in Kabul that Pakistan should control militants on its side of the border.

Pakistan responded that it could not be held responsible for everything going on in war-torn Afghanistan.

'The real question is what is being done on the Afghanistan side of the border. Pakistan cannot be held responsible for the weaknesses and loopholes on the other side of the border,' Basit said.

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