美国或将冻结对巴基斯坦援助 US May Freeze 700 Billion in Aid to Pakistan

PlayBar
14 December, 2011

预计美国国会本周晚些时候将通过一项议案,冻结向巴基斯坦提供的七亿美元援助资金,原因是担心伊斯兰堡不会全力打击自制炸弹的扩散。

美国议员担心,在阿富汗的激进分子利用在巴基斯坦生产的化肥制造简易爆炸装置。这种装置已成为激进分子袭击美国领导的联军的“最有效的武器”之一。

美国国务院发言人维多利亚.努兰星期二表示,提议中的冻结行动不会自动切断资金,但将使援助与巴基斯坦在自制炸弹问题上取得的进展挂钩。

暂停援助是美国议员本周晚些时候预计会通过的一个较大的国防开支议案的一部分。

几名巴基斯坦官员星期二批评这一行动,称它只会导致美巴关系更加恶化。

自从5月初美军在巴基斯坦的一次突袭中将“基地”组织头目本.拉登击毙以来,美巴关系一直受挫。

北约在11月的空袭中炸死24名驻扎在与阿富汗接壤地区的巴基斯坦军人之后,两国关系达到新低点。

The U.S. Congress is expected later this week to pass a measure that would freeze up to $700 million in aid to Pakistan because of fears that Islamabad is not doing enough to combat the spread of homemade bombs. 

U.S. lawmakers are concerned that militants in Afghanistan are using fertilizer produced in Pakistan to develop improvised explosive devices - one of the militants' most effective weapons against U.S.-led forces there. 

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Tuesday that the proposed suspension would not automatically cut the funding, but will make it dependent on making progress with Pakistan on the issue of homemade bombs. 

The aid suspension is part of a larger defense spending bill that U.S. lawmakers are expected to pass later this week. 

Several Pakistani officials criticized the move on Tuesday, saying it would only lead to worse relations with Washington. 

U.S.-Pakistani ties have suffered since a secret U.S. strike killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in early May. 

Relations reached a new low following a NATO airstrike in November that killed 24 Pakistani troops along the border with Afghanistan.