US Senate approves defence bill with new restrictions on Pak aid

WASHINGTON (SAMI IBRAHIM): US lawmakers on Thursday passed a giant Pentagon spending bill that sets tough new restrictions on military aid to Pakistan, where top officials are already fuming over previous limits.

The move came as Pakistani troops fought through the sixth day of a major assault against Taliban fighters in the restive Afghan border region with officials saying 137 militants and 18 soldiers had been killed since Saturday.

The Senate voted 68-29 in favour of a 680-billion-dollar defence spending bill for fiscal year 2010, which sailed through the House of Representatives by a 281-146 margin on October 8 and now goes to President Barack Obama.

The new limits include efforts to track where US military hardware sent to Pakistan ends up, as well as a warning that US aid to Pakistan must not upset "the balance of power in the region" -- a reference to tensions with India.

The measure's chief authors, Senators Robert Menendez and Bob Corker, praised Pakistan for its help routing extremists but said they wanted to be sure US military aid goes to fight the "war on terrorism."

"That fight is important to our own national security, and we have to ensure that our support for it is not being squandered or diverted," said Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey.

"The Pakistanis should be commended for working to eliminate the terrorist safe havens within their own borders and for their role in the broader war on violent extremism," said Corker, a Republican from Tennessee.

"This provision simply ensures that the American peoples’ tax dollars are being used for their intended purpose," he said.

But the vote could worsen a flare-up between Washington and Islamabad about strings attached to US dollars, military training, and hardware, with Pakistani officials bitterly complaining of US interference in domestic affairs.

Officials in Islamabad have condemned restrictions in US legislation to triple non-military aid to 7.5 billion dollars over five years, denouncing some limits the package sets on security assistance as attacks on its sovereignty.

But US lawmakers have increasingly called for closer tracking of US aid to Pakistan, amid growing concerns about US strategy in Afghanistan as Obama weighs sending more troops to fight the eight-year-told war.

The military spending bill would impose new restrictions on how Pakistan gets reimbursed out of a 1.6-billion-dollar fund for logistical and military support of US-led efforts to battle Islamist insurgents.

The measure requires that the US secretaries of state and defence certify that "whether such reimbursement is consistent with the national security interest of the United States and will not adversely impact the balance of power in the region."

The bill also says the Pentagon must certify that Islamabad is waging a "concerted" fight against Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other fighters before it can receive the massive package of aid to battle extremists on its soil.

It directs the Pentagon to track how Pakistan uses military hardware it receives in order "to prohibit the re-transfer of such defence articles and defence services without the consent of the United States."

The legislation also calls for the White House to send lawmakers a report every 180 days on progress toward long-term security and stability in Pakistan.