Clinton intervenes for Pakistan on arms deal

Clinton intervenes for Pakistan on arms deal

WASHINGTON (Reuter): President Bill Clinton said on Tuesday
U.S. refusal to complete a US$1.4 billion arms sale to Pakistan
was unfair and told Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto he would ask
Congress to find a solution.

Relations between the once-close allies have been clouded by
the U.S. failure to deliver paid-for military equipment,
including 28 F-16 warplanes, to Pakistan because of concern it is
developing a nuclear weapons capability.

"I don't think what happened was fair to Pakistan in terms of
the money," he said at a joint news conference after White House
talks with Bhutto.

"I don't think it's right for us to keep the money and the
equipment," Clinton said after talks with Bhutto. "That is not
right, and I am going to try to find a resolution to it."

Bhutto flatly declared: "We have no nuclear weapons. We have
enough knowledge and capability to make nuclear weapons ... But
we have voluntarily chosen not to."

Although Islamabad has already paid for the military items,
delivery has been frozen under terms of the so-called Pressler
Amendment, enacted by Congress in 1985. It blocks arms sales to
nations suspected of developing nuclear weapons.

"I plan to work with Congress to find ways to prevent the
spread of nuclear weapons and to preserve the aims of the
Pressler Amendment while building a stronger relationship with a
secure, more prosperous Pakistan," Clinton said.

"We are trying to find ways to fulfill our obligations ... to
ourselves and to the world to promote non-proliferation and
improve our relationships."

Bhutto, who has asked that the United States either deliver
the equipment or return Pakistan's money, said she was
"encouraged by my discussions with the president ... and the
understanding that he has shown for Pakistan's position."

"I welcome the Clinton administration's decision to work with
Congress to revise the Pressler Amendment," she said.

White House officials stressed that stiff opposition exists in
the Republican-controlled Congress to major changes in the law
named for its author, Republican Senator Larry Pressler of South
Dakota.

"They're not going to get money or planes any time soon," said
White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry.

A senior administration official said one option under
consideration was to sell the airplanes to a third nation and
then turn the money over to Pakistan. The official said Thailand
has expressed an interest in F-16s in the past.

The ban with respect to Pakistan began in 1990 when then-
President George Bush told Congress he could not give assurances
that Pakistan was not developing nuclear weapons. That terminated
annual aid of over $600 million and froze the transfer of the
$1.4 billion in already-purchased arms.

U.S. officials have said they are sounding out Congress on the
issue but have not formally requested repeal of the law.

Pressler opposes any changes in the law or waivers to it.

"I find simply preposterous any proposal that would transfer
even one F-16 to Pakistan without first securing that nation's
compliance with the Pressler amendment and its signature on the
nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty," he said.