U.S. reviewing aid to Pakistan: White House

Xinhua, September 28, 2011

The White House said on Tuesday that Washington is reviewing its aid to Pakistan, urging its government to take action in cracking down on the Haqqani network, as the two countries' relations keep deteriorating this year.

"We obviously are always reviewing our aid programs," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in a press gaggle, adding that the U.S. takes it seriously and discusses these matters with its Pakistani counterparts, without providing further details.

The White House remarks came at a time when U.S.-Pakistani ties have hit a new low after senior U.S. officials, including chairman of the U.S. Joint Chief of Staff Mike Mullen, publicly accused Pakistan of backing the Haqqani network which was blamed for the recent attacks on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

Carney reiterated the U.S. position that the Haqqani network was responsible for the attacks on Sept. 13, urging the Pakistani government to take action to "deal with the things that exist there."

On the same day, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that the U.S. has slowed military aid to Pakistan until desired results are seen.

Nuland said that some of the military aid cannot go forward "unless the programs that it funds go forward and until we can evaluate with Pakistan where we're going to go together."

U.S.-Pakistani relations had already been substantially damaged in May this year over a secret U.S. commando mission that killed al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan without the permission from Islamabad.

The U.S. has been giving out signals that it will cut military aid to Pakistan, while shifting more focus on the civilian aid in order to ease the strong anti-American sentiment among the majority of Pakistani population.