trump threatens to cut pakistan aid
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Over 'Deceit' In Terror Fight

Trump threatens to cut Pakistan aid

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleTrump threatens to cut Pakistan aid

US President Donald Trump with son Barron and wife Melania.
Washington - Muslimchronicle

US President Donald Trump lashed out at Pakistan on Monday in his first tweet of 2018, threatening to cut off aid over what he said were its "lies and deceit" in offering "safe haven to terrorists."

"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools," Trump said as the new year kicked off.

"They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!"

Last week, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration was seriously weighing whether to withhold $255 million in already delayed aid to Islamabad over its failure to crack down more effectively on terror groups in Pakistan.

US-Pakistani ties, long contentious, have taken a nosedive under Trump, who in August declared that "Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror."

Last month, Trump had already hinted that he may cut off the aid.

"We make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help," he said in unveiling his national security strategy.

- 'Pakistan on notice' -

And in late December, Vice President Mike Pence told American troops during a visit to Afghanistan, "President Trump has put Pakistan on notice."

Thee Trump administration told Congress in August it was putting $255 million in aid earmarked for Pakistan on hold until Islamabad could show progress toward eliminating cross-border havens to Taliban factions operating in Afghanistan as well as armed jihadist groups fighting US troops and their Afghan allies.

Of foremost concern is Islamabad's attitude toward the powerful Haqqani network, accused of some of the most lethal attacks on US forces in Afghanistan and dubbed by America's former top military officer Mike Mullen as a "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence.

The group was responsible for kidnapping a Canadian-American couple and holding them from 2012 to 2017, when Pakistani forces secured their release in what they said was as a rescue operation but some US officials reportedly described as a "negotiated handover."

Trump hailed their return as a clear sign of progress, but his attitude has hardened since.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif responded to Trump's tweet Monday, telling Geo television in an Urdu-language interview, "The United States should hold its own people accountable for its failures in Afghanistan."

He said all funds from the US had been "properly audited" and that "services (were) rendered."

Islamabad has repeatedly denied the accusations of turning a blind eye to militancy, lambasting the United States for ignoring the thousands who have been killed on its soil and the billions spent fighting extremists.

Lisa Curtis, who is the South and Central Asia director on Trump's National Security Council, co-authored an article with former Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani last February that the "activities and operations of diverse terror groups on and from Pakistani soil, and the government's failure to rein them in, threaten vital US national security interests in the region."

"To accomplish US counterterrorism objectives in the region and to reverse extremist trends in Pakistani society, Pakistani authorities –- specifically the country's military leaders, who control its foreign and security policies –- need to take a comprehensive approach to shutting down all Islamist militant groups that operate from Pakistani territory, not just those that attack the Pakistani state," they said.

Trump first signaled that the US was reassessing its fractious relations with Pakistan in August, when he accused Islamabad of harboring "agents of chaos."

The remarks triggered a series of high-level diplomatic meetings in the US and Pakistan, but Islamabad has given few signs of concessions.

After the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, Washington forged a strategic alliance with Islamabad to help in its fight against terrorists. But US leaders have often complained that Pakistan, which once supported the Taliban, has done too little to help.

 

Source: AFP

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

trump threatens to cut pakistan aid trump threatens to cut pakistan aid

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 08:32 2011 Monday ,25 July

Sabri accuses Yusri in Souad Hosni’s murder

GMT 12:07 2014 Monday ,03 February

Home design ideas

GMT 11:20 2017 Thursday ,02 March

Mexico central bank cuts growth outlook over Trump

GMT 08:31 2017 Tuesday ,28 November

Bangladesh upholds death sentence for 139 soldiers

GMT 14:33 2017 Thursday ,20 April

US defense secretary vows support for Egypt's Sisi

GMT 16:12 2017 Wednesday ,20 December

Myanmar bars UN rights investigator just before visit

GMT 08:21 2017 Wednesday ,30 August

United Technologies near deal to buy Rockwell Collins

GMT 18:27 2017 Friday ,21 April

ARCO condemns targeting of ERC convoy in Somalia

GMT 07:23 2017 Tuesday ,21 November

perched in Jerusalem's hills may soon vanish

GMT 19:33 2017 Tuesday ,10 October

US scientists engineer corn to boost protein

GMT 08:43 2017 Monday ,04 December

Brexit deal 'difficult but doable': diplomats

GMT 11:24 2017 Friday ,03 March

Lego honors 'Women of NASA'

GMT 11:35 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

Bahrain's top Shiite cleric hospitalised

GMT 21:39 2017 Saturday ,30 September

Abdel Karim praises Egypt’s role

GMT 10:11 2017 Tuesday ,12 December

Latest Grateful Dead resurrection -- a duo

GMT 15:43 2017 Monday ,04 December

Yemen's Huthi rebels claim ex-president Saleh killed

GMT 15:59 2017 Thursday ,30 November

Bahrain Bourse daily trading performance
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle