950803

Add William Perry

- defence appropriation bill

WASHINGTON: Before the US senate is an amendement in the Defence Appropriation Bill that would relax the Pressler sanctions and allow release of military equipment worth about $370 million to Pakistan.

Discussion on the bill began on Wednesday when the house also adopted some amendments.

Senator Hank Brown, the influential Republic Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Sub-committee on Near East and South Asia, who initiated the earlier amendment on economic sanctions, is believed to have revised it further to include the release of military equipment to Pakistan, other than the F-16 planes.

Senator Brown has reportedly decided to adopt, in broad terms, Clinton administration's proposals on release of military equipment to Pakistan contracted in 1989.

Twenty eight (28) F-16 planes which were also part of the deal will now be sold to a third party with proceeds of the sale going to Pakistan which had paid a total of dollars 1.4 billion for the equipment and the planes.

The amendment, if adopted, would authorise the release of about $368 million worth of military equipments for the army, airforce and the navy.

The Brown amendment faces a tough fight in the senate. The Indo-Israeli lobby has been campaigning to defeat the move ever since the Clinton administration conveyed to key committees of both houses early last month that it proposes to seek congressional authority for delivery of arms to Pakistan.

New Delhi reacted strongly to the administration's proposal while maintaining that it would trigger a fresh arms race in South Asia and enhance it instability.

Senator Brown had earlier introduced amendment in the foreign aid bill which sought to restore cooperation between the two countries in non-military fields including trade and investment, anti-terrorist and anti-narcotics campaigns. It passed a major hurdle when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved it by a near unanimous vote from both sides of the political divide, a rare phenomenon in the present highly polarized Congress.

The decision to pick up the Defence Appropriation Bill for relaxing arms embargo against Pakistan is believed to have been taken in view of President Clinton's threat to veto the foreign aid bill in the present form which drastically slashes the administration requestion for aid allocation. The President believes that the Republican-led Congress is trying to undercut his ability to effectively conduct foreign policy.

The Clinton administration began consultations with leading members of the Congres for dismantling the Pressler Amendment, early last month. It proposed a legislation which sought amendment in section 620 E of the Foreign Assistance Act which said that while restrictions shall continue to apply to contracts for the delivery of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan, notwithstanding the restrictions contained in the section, military equipment, other than F-16 aircraft, may be transferred to Pakistan pursuant to contracts or cases entered into before October 1, 1990.

The revision of Pressler law, enjoys a bipartisan support in the Congres with Clinton Administration extending full backing, to this initiative. President Clinton pledged to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last April that he would work with the Congress to undo the wrong done by the Pressler Amendment in targeting Pakistan. He said he believed that it was not right for the US to keep both the arms and the money that Pakistan had paid.-APP