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US lawmaker seeks to block sale of fighter jets to Pakistan

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Jul 27, 2006
A leading Democrat in the US Congress introduced legislation Thursday to block the George W. Bush administration's proposed sale of up to 36 combat aircraft to Pakistan.

Representative Ed Markey, who co-chairs a bipartisan congressional task force on non-proliferation, said his bill would prevent the sale of the three dozen F-16 fighter jets from going forward, unless the president certifies to Congress that Pakistan has terminated construction of its plutonium production reactor.

Earlier this week, press reports revealed that Pakistan has been building a plutonium production reactor capable of producing enough weapons-grade nuclear material for up to 50 atomic bombs per year.

"We should pressure India and Pakistan to stop producing plutonium and enrich uranium for nuclear bombs, not give them the tools to make and deliver those weapons with greater ease," Markey said, also linking the deal to his disapproval over a US-India civilian nuclear energy deal which cleared the House of Representatives Wednesday.

"These F-16 aircraft are capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and if this arms sale goes through, we will only be putting additional fuel on the fire of an Indian-Pakistan nuclear arms race."

Markey continued: "We should not proceed with this arms sale unless the US can prove that Pakistan is not moving forward with a nuclear reactor that, once completed, could be used to increase Pakistan's annual nuclear weapons production capability from an estimated seven bombs a year up to an estimated 50 bombs a year."

The administration last week defended its sale of fighter jets to Pakistan.

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs John Hillen told lawmakers that the fighter jets sale to Pakistan would help bolster a key US ally in the global fight against terrorism.

But key lawmakers have accused the White House of making an end-run around Congress and "flouting" the US legislature's oversight role of the sale.

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Rice at Asian forum amid NKorea standoff
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 27, 2006
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived for a regional security forum in Malaysia Thursday holding out little hope that North Korea would return to stalled talks on its nuclear weapons.







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