Pak military, govt on collision course over US aid bill

The military and civilian government in Pakistan are on a collision course over the Kerry-Lugar American assistance bill. In an unusual press release on Wednesday, corps commanders took a public position on the issue by opposing the bill.

They maintained that Islamabad’s right to decide on issues of national security and foreign policy should not be handed over to Washington for the sake of assistance.

Hours earlier, president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had pitched strongly for the US aid bill, requesting members of parliament to back it.

The bill, which awaits president Barack Obama’s signature, will provide $1.5 billion a year over five years to Pakistan for democratic, economic and social development programmes. It allows “such sums as may be necessary” for military aid, subject to special conditions related to its fight against militants.

The military’s stamp of rejection came after a conference where the bill was discussed. A spokesman said: “The forum expressed serious concern regarding (the Kerry-Lugar bill’s) clauses impacting national security. Pakistan is a sovereign state and has all the rights to analyse and respond to any threat in accordance with her own national interests.”

The stand, analysts say, is likely to bolster the position of opposition parties. They are objecting to conditions attached to the bill, besides references to the southwest city of Quetta and eastern town of Muridke as militant hubs — a claim they say is without substance. Many others also feel the conditions are a sign of growing, and unwanted, US influence in Pakistan.