US Senate committee cuts aid to Pakistan over Dr Shakil Afridi conviction

WASHINGTON: Outraged over the conviction of a Pakistani doctor who helped CIA find Osama bin Laden, a US Senate panel has voted unanimously to cut aid to Islamabad by USD 33 million, which in effect means USD 1 million for every year of the physician's 33-year sentence for high treason.

The unanimous vote yesterday by the Senate Appropriations committee on the amendment, moved by Senator Lindsey Graham, is reflective of the changing mode in the US especially the growing anger among US lawmakers towards Pakistan.

The US has insisted that there is no basis to imprison Dr Shakil Afridi on treason charges, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denouncing it as "unjust and unwarranted".

"We regret both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence," Clinton told a joint press conference with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully.

"We are raising it (his case) and we will continue to do so because we think that his treatment is unjust and unwarranted," she said today.

The latest decision by the key Senate panel represents about four per cent of the USD 800 million set aside for Pakistan for the year 2013. This includes USD 250 million in foreign military aid and another USD 50 million for Pakistan's counterinsurgency efforts.

In fact, this amount of USD 800 million is far below the USD 2.3 billion the Obama administration is requesting for Pakistan. Another House committee had made similar recommendations early this week.

During the markup, Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Graham called Pakistan a "schizophrenic" ally, which has suffered the worst losses at the hands of militants while at the same time harboring the Haqqani network and other groups.

"If this is cooperation, I would hate like heck to see opposition," Leahy said.