US Committed to Proceed on F-16 Jets Deal With Pakistan

Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency

Islamabad, 16 June: US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher on Friday [15 June] said the United States was committed to proceed on the F-16 aircraft deal with Pakistan and a recent bill adopted by one side of the US legislature will not affect the commitment.

“It has not passed. That’s not legislation; that’s not a bill; that’s not an act of law. That was a bill passed by one side of our legislature, the House,” Boucher told Pakistani television media in on-camera interview here.

He said, the Senate did not have that provision and they have to get together to work it out. “So, we’ll see what ultimately emerges from the Congress. We have been opposed to that provision. We’ve made that very clear on the record”.

Boucher said, “Others in the administration, the White House, senior levels of the State Department, have objected to that provision. So it may never become law. It may change or be dropped by the time final legislation is prepared”.

As far as the status of the F-16 bill, the US Secretary of State said: “It’s going forward fine, would not be affected, we intend to proceed with it. It’s an important commitment. It’s an important area of cooperation”.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.