US military assistance to Pak may be contingent on producing 'A Q Khan'

Washington, May 17 (ANI): While Pakistan is eagerly waiting for the US Congress to approve the 1.9 billion dollars aid bill for it, a pending bill before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, if approved, can choke the US military assistance to Pakistan.

The bill, marked- H. R. 1463-has been pending in the House of Representatives since March after it was introduced, and has now been passed on to the Committee on Foreign Affairs for further action.

The bill, if adopted, will require Pakistan to produce the disgraced nuclear scientist Dr. A.Q. Khan before American interrogators to qualify for the US military aid.

The bill under its section one titled 'Findings', mentions Dr. Khan as the leader of a gang of nuclear proliferators who supplied nuclear technology to countries which pose a threat to the United States, The Dawn reports.

This means that the bill if passed by the committee would certainly create more problems for Pakistan.

The bill was moved by Congresswomen Jane Harman, and Ellen O. Tauscher, and Congressmen Edward R. Royce and Gerald E. Connolly.

"One of the most important challenges confronting the intelligence community is learning the nature of and damage done by the worldwide network in nuclear centrifuge technology, bomb components and training run for almost two decades by A. Q. Khan," Congresswoman Harman had said at the time of tabling the bill pin the house.

The 72-year-old Khan was under house arrest in Islamabad since February 2004, when he confessed on television to sending nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, although he later retracted his remarks.

However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had dismissed all the charges levied against him in February this year. (ANI)