US Congressional panel moots $700-mn Pak aid freeze

A US Congressional panel has frozen $700 million in aid to Pakistan until it gives assurances on effective tackling of the spread of homemade bombs in the region.

Analysts say, the freeze which is the second this year, shows the US lawmakers' frustration over Islamabad's reluctance to take on militant groups.

However, according to the Obama administration, it has not cut any civilian aid to the country yet, and said the Congressional panel was formulating a defence bill.

Bilateral ties between the two countries have been strained after the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US forces and ongoing US drone strikes in Pakistan.

Washington is also unhappy over lackadaisical Pakistani efforts to counter the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, which it believes is based in Pakistan and engages US troops in Afghanistan.

According to correspondents, Pakistan is one of the largest beneficiaries of American foreign aid and the cutback announced yesterday constituted a fraction of the billions of dollars it receives from Washington every year in civil and military assistance.