Pakistani military flexes muscles over US aid

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Just last week, Pakistan’s foreign minister was playing down his army’s objections to a multibillion-dollar U.S. aid bill. Days later, after a session with the army chief, he was back in Washington urging U.S. lawmakers to address the very concerns he had dismissed.

The about-face shows the delicate dance between Pakistan’s fragile civilian government and the powerful military, less than two years after the army formally gave up control of the country.

The proposed aid package would provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion a year over five years to spend mainly on economic and social programs. The overall goal is to alleviate poverty, thus lessening the allure of the Taliban and other militant groups threatening Pakistan and the U.S. war effort in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s military objects to language that links money for counterterrorism assistance to meeting various conditions. The legislation also requires the U.S. secretary of state to report to Congress every six months on whether Pakistan’s government maintains effective control over the military, including its budgets, the chain of command and top promotions.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he would return home from Washington satisfied that the aid package does not hurt his country’s sovereignty. He said he had been given U.S. assurances that would “allay the fears of Pakistan.”

U.S. lawmakers, however, have no plans to change the bill, which awaits President Barack Obama’s signature into law.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, a co-sponsor of the bill, told reporters after meeting with Qureshi for the second time in two days that a statement attempting to clarify points in the bill would be entered into the congressional record.

“The legislation does not seek in any way to compromise Pakistan’s sovereignty, impinge on Pakistan’s national security interests, or micromanage any aspect of Pakistani military or civilian operations,” the statement said.