US to boost Pak F-16s fleet

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration Thursday confirmed its plans to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counter-terrorism programmes to upgrading the country's aging F-16 attack planes, a move that is certain to face some resistance in Congress.

"The F-16s that they have are used in counterterrorism operations," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "We made them available to the Pakistanis and they need to be maintained."

She confirmed a New York Times report that the administration planned to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan to upgrade its aging F-16 planes, built by Lockheed Martin Corp. "That story is accurate," Ms Perino said.

The new Pakistani government is facing economic pressures partly from rising food and energy prices and needs assistance from the United States, she said.

The United States has been making efforts to forge ties with new Pakistani leaders and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is scheduled to meet President George W Bush at the White House next week.

The timing of the action, The Times said, also caught lawmakers off guard, prompting some of them to suspect that the deal was meant to curry favour with Gilani.

US lawmakers have previously limited military aid to Pakistan to counterterrorism and law enforcement activities against al Qaeda and the Taliban. But The Times claimed that Pakistan has rarely used its F-16s in counterterrorism missions.

In a two-page notification to Congress, the State Department said that upgrading the avionics, electronics and radar systems of Pakistan's older F-16s would 'increase the survivability of the aircraft in a hostile environment' and make the 'F-16s a more valuable counter-terrorism asset that operates safely during day and night operations'.

However, the proposed upgrade of F-16s, which Pakistan prizes more for their contribution to its military rivalry with India than for fighting insurgents along its Afghan border greeted with dismay and anger by US lawmakers who may block the move, The Times said.

The notification said the modernised systems would also increase the accuracy of the F-16s' support of Pakistani ground troops, lessening the risks of civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, lawmakers and their aides were quoted as saying that F-16s do not help the counter-terrorism campaign and defy the administration's urgings that Pakistan increase pressure on Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in its tribal areas.

The debate over the F-16 financing comes at a time when Congress has grown increasingly frustrated with the administration's Pakistan policy, arguing it has been weighted too heavily on security assistance.

The US has given more than $10 billion in military aid to Pakistan since the September 11 attacks. Of that amount, $5.5 billion was specifically intended to reimburse the counterinsurgency efforts by the Pakistani Army, but Congressional auditors have said that Pakistan did not spend much of that money on counterinsurgency.

The move could also be aimed at easing tensions over the 11 members of the Pakistani paramilitary forces killed in an American air-strike along the Afghan border last month, The Times said.

The financing for the F-16s, it pointed out, would represent more than two-thirds of the $300 million that Pakistan will receive this year in American military financing for equipment and training.