Pakistan asks US State Dept to pend F-16 notification to Congress
By Khalida Mazhar - PakistanTimes.net Foreign Correspondent

WASHINGTON (US): Ambassador Jehangir Karamat Saturday said the US State Department has been asked to “pend notification to the Congress” about sale of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan “for the time being.”

“On their part, the U.S. authorities have conveyed the assurance that the President’s commitment stands—it’s there; and you can take your time,” the Ambassador told 'PakistanTimes.net'.

He said the U.S. authorities “also understand as to what is the situation that Pakistan is presently faced with,” following the October 8 earthquake disaster. “We have their (US) support,” he said, adding: “I think, their attitude has been quite encouraging.”

President General Pervez Musharraf said Friday that Pakistan would postpone the purchase of F-16s in the face of large-scale relief and reconstruction tasks in the earthquake-hit areas but stressed that the country remained fully alive to its security concerns.

Ambassador Karamat said Pakistan has told the State Department to pend notification to the Congress till a time that “we are able to tell them again to go ahead with this contract.”

Assurance from the US

“We have an assurance from the U.S. President and the Government that the offer stands for you, and whenever you are able to decide to take it up, you intimate us, so that we notify it to the Congress,” he said.

The Congress session for the current year, he said, would culminate before the Thanksgiving and it would resume in January. The Ambassador said if Pakistan was willing the US Administration “can notify the matter in February-March period.”

The President and the Prime Minister have said that rehabilitation and reconstruction of the earthquake hit areas would now be the government’s priority.

“So, it will be taken into account as to what things are to be done and what things cannot be done, and when could other things be undertaken. I think, these things will be clear within the next two to three months, as soon as the nature of reconstruction is assessed fully,” the Ambassador said.

“For the time being, they (Pakistani leadership) have taken a correct decision, keeping in mind those people who have been affected adversely. So, it is a good decision,” Ambassador Karamat added.●