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U.S. Suspending Security Aid To Pakistan Until Action Taken Against Terror Networks

RFE/RL January 04, 2018

The U.S. government says it is suspending security assistance to the Pakistani military until it takes "decisive action" against the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network that are operating in neighboring Afghanistan.

The expected announcement was made on January 4 by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

Nauert said details were still being worked out and that she was unable to say the value of the assistance being suspended.

"Until the Pakistani government takes decisive action against the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani group -- we consider them to be a destabilizing the region and targeting US personnel -- the United States will suspend that type of security assistance to Pakistan," she told a news briefing.

The assistance involved would be related to the Coalition Support Funds, which the United States supplies to Pakistan to as reimbursement for its counterterrorism operations.

She said the move would also involve the suspension of other security assistance, although she did not provide details and said that this portion of aid to Pakistan was the under control of the Defense Department.

The White House on January 2 said it was calling on Pakistan to do more to fight terrorism and that it would announce "specific actions" within days to pressure Islamabad.

In a Twitter posting on January 1, President Donald Trump threatened to cut off billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of being a safe haven for extremists operating in Afghanistan.

Trump said the United States has "foolishly" given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the past 15 years, "and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools."

The U.S. government has already been holding up $255 million in assistance used by Pakistan to buy U.S. military equipment until it takes a tougher line on extremists threatening Afghanistan.

Nauert confirmed that the moves announced on January 4 would be in addition to the $255 million previously suspended.

Earlier on January 4, Pakistani Major General Asif Ghafoor told Geo Television that Islamabad seeks to continue its cooperation with the United States but that it will not "compromise on national interests and prestige."

He said Pakistan will respond to any actions taken by the U.S. government against Pakistan, although he was not specific.

Reuters news agency quoted Miftah Ismail, Pakistan's de facto finance minister, as saying that the "aid cuts will not hurt us."

"That's not the leverage they have, because it is something they have reduced drastically over the years," he added.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and The Washington Post

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-u-s-suspending- security-aid-taliban-nauert/28955422.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.