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ISLAMABAD — The United States is threatening to cut off aid to Pakistan unless it is given access to the wives of Osama bin Laden.
A draft Bill being considered by the House foreign affairs committee Wednesday would also insist on p
roof that weapons provided by the U.S. were not used for anything other than fighting terrorists along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It also called for an end to visa delays for counter-terrorism personnel.
U.S. Congressmen were angry at what they saw as Pakistan's reluctance to take on militants and unanswered questions about how the world's most wanted man was able to set up home no more than 30 miles from the country's capital.
The new legislation was also seen as a challenge to President Barack Obama and his authority over foreign policy. It would block aid to Egypt, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority – as well as Pakistan – unless the White House could reassure Congress that they were co-operating in fighting terrorism.
The legislation would bar aid to Pakistan unless the Secretary of State could certify to Congress that Islamabad "is fully assisting the United States with investigating the existence of an official or unofficial support network in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden, including by providing the United States with direct access to Osama bin Laden's relatives in Pakistan and to Osama bin Laden's former compound in Abottabad and any materials therein".
The provisions could affect billions of dollars in aid but while the House of Representatives was expected to back the Bill, it was unlikely to make it through the Democrat-held Senate.
Earlier this month it emerged that the U.S. had blocked $800 million in military assistance after Pakistan expelled American personnel and began delaying visas in protest at the raid to kill the al-Qaida leader.
The U.S. wanted Pakistan to carry out a military offensive in North Waziristan, one of the tribal areas from where militants launch attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.
The message was hammered home by Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, during a visit to India yesterday.
"We have made it clear to the Pakistan government that confronting violent extremism of all sorts is in its interest," she said in New Delhi. "We do not believe that there are any terrorists who should be given safe haven or a free pass by any government."
