WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A U.S. Senate bill for 2012 funding foreign operations includes conditions that funds for Pakistan be based on its cooperation against the Haqqani network.
A bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee allocates $48.16 billion for 2012 foreign operations and related programs.
The bill provides $161.4 million for State Department operations related to Pakistan and $1 billion for the Pakistani counterinsurgency capability fund. It includes restrictions on assistance to Pakistan based on Islamabad's cooperation in targeting the Haqqani network, al-Qaida and other organizations.
Acrimony between Islamabad and Washington escalated after a U.S. Navy SEAL team killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in May near a military installation in Pakistan.
Defense officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that there may be significant links between the Pakistani government and elements in the Haqqani network. U.S. Security of State Hillary Clinton focused on the network during talks with Pakistani officials at meetings at the United Nations.
U.S. officials in Kabul blamed the Haqqani network for orchestrating a deadly 20-hour raid on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the headquarters of NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
A State Department official, speaking to reporters on background, Islamabad and Washington during recent talks had "concluded that joint efforts need to be made to end this threat from the Haqqanis and that Pakistan and the United States ought to be working together on this and not separately."
