US to stop aid to Pak in 3 weeks if it doesn't cooperate in global war on terror

Islamabad, June 19 : The US has reportedly given three-week time to the new government in Islamabad to decide whether it wants continue cooperation in the war on terror, or face suspension of the US aid which Islamabad has been receiving since 2001 after it committed its active role in the US-led war on terror.

President Pervez Musharraf was at the helm of affairs in 2001, when Islamabad agreed to play a role in global war on terror on US' insistence. But, the new PPP-led government in Islamabad has expressed its somewhat different stand vis- -vis Washington, often saying that it won't bow to US' dictates and would chalk out its own policy when it came to the US-led war on terror.

A senior parliamentarian from the coalition government reportedly said last evening that the newly elected government was "under immense pressure" to continue to co-operate in the war on terror or face suspension of the US' aid which Pakistan has been receiving for operating as a frontline ally.

"The next three weeks are very crucial. The US has categorically told the concerned quarters in the new setup to come up with 'final decisions' in this regard. They (US) will take their decision depending upon our response," the daily Times quoted him as saying.

Since joining the war on terror in 2001, Pakistan has received over 10 billion dollars from the US.

The unidentified leader further said: "The US has no objection to minor adjustments in the policy towards war on terror, but will not accept any major shift in this policy. They can suspend aid in case of major change and they have conveyed it to the quarters concerned."

"The US has reservations over negotiations and agreements by the new coalition government with Taliban in Tribal Areas and settled districts of the NWFP such as Swat and Tank. The US feels threatened by Al Qaeda's regrouping and concentration of extremist anti-US elements in the Tribal Areas," he added.

He further said that the PPP-led coalition government could not afford to annoy the US at a time when Pakistan was facing food inflation and shortage, electricity shortage, declining foreign reserves and rising oil prices.

ANI