From: William Gladys <william.gladys@tiscali.co.uk>
Date: Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 4:35 PM
Subject: Fw: Keep your money, Pakistan's military tells US
To: world_Politics@googlegroups.com
Keep your money, Pakistan's military tells US
Saeed Shah
July 12, 2011
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan military declared it did not need US military aid after the White House confirmed that it would withhold $US800 million ($744 million) in assistance to the country's armed forces.
The row will worsen the already poisonous relationship between the two ''allies'', which has lurched towards breakdown since the unilateral US raid to kill Osama bin Laden in May.
Pakistan recently expelled US military trainers from the country, limited the ability of US diplomats and other officials to get visas and restricted CIA operations on its territory.
''The Pakistani relationship is difficult but it must be made to work over time. But until we get through these difficulties we will hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give them,'' the White House chief-of-staff, William Daley, said yesterday.
At stake is the co-operation of Pakistan against al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other extremist groups. Much of al-Qaeda's remaining leadership is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, while the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, fighting across the border in Afghanistan, use Pakistan territory as a haven.
The new US Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, said over the weekend he believed bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was in Pakistan's tribal area and ''he's one of those we would like to see the Pakistanis target''. Pakistan responded yesterday by asking the US to share its intelligence on Zawahiri's whereabouts.
The chief spokesman for the Pakistan military, Athar Abbas, said the military had received no formal notification of any aid being cut. ''We have conducted our [anti-extremist] military operations without external support or assistance,'' said Major-General Abbas. ''Reports coming out of the US are aimed at undermining the authority of our military organisations.''
Stories critical of Pakistan are leaked on an almost daily basis to the American press, riling Pakistani public and official opinion against Washington. Many in Pakistan believe there is a concerted American effort to weaken Pakistan and its armed forces, which are some of the largest in the world.
For Washington, Pakistan's refusal to launch an offensive against the Haqqani network and suspicions that bin Laden benefited from some kind of official support to live in Pakistan has corroded ties.
Guardian News & Media
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