Kaira admits that strings are attached with the Kerry-Lugar Bill

October 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States has said it welcomes a debate on the controversial Kerry Lugar Bill in the Pakistan Parliament, saying it would help assuage the feelings of reservation and concern over how the US aid is to be disbursed and in what circumstances. Interacting with media persons during a regular briefing, US State Department spokesperson Philip Crowley said the debate over the bill is an important and positive step.

October 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United States has made it clear that it would not remove any clauses in the controversial Kerry Lugar bill, rather an explanatory memo addressing Pakistan's reservations would be stapled in with the bill. Interacting with mediapersons after a meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister, who had rushed back to Washington to convey Islamabad's objections, Chairman of the Senate Foreign relations Committee John Kerry said a separate document would be attached with the bill to clarify the elements of the 7.5 billion dollar bill.

October 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has reiterated that it is not bound to accept the 'stringed' Kerry Lugar Bill and is expecting that the US would make suitable amendments in the Bill in view of the large scale criticism it has received in the country. ddressing media persons during a regular press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit said the Kerry Lugar Bill was not a bilateral agreement, so it was not necessary for the Pakistan government to agree with all of its clauses.

October 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Worried by the wide scale criticism of the Kerry Lugar Bill in Pakistan, US Vice President Joe Biden has said that Washington is considering Islamabad's reservations on the aid Bill. Biden met Pakistani ambassador-at-large Raffat Mahmood in Washington and told him that the Obama Administration is aware of Pakistan's concerns and is examining them, The News reports.

October 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani opposition parties have described the controversial Kerry Lugar Bill as a 'national insult' and an attempt by the US to interfere in the country's internal issues. During a discussion over the bill in the National Assembly, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Faisal Saleh Hayat said the terms and conditions attached with the bill have created differences among various government institutions.

October 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has rejected reports regarding a rift between the government and the Army over the Kerry Lugar Bill issue. Responding to queries about altercations between the government and the Pakistan Army over the 'severe' terms and conditions attached with the US aid bill, Kaira said: "There is no clash between the government and Army." Kaira said Pakistan was not bound to accept the terms and conditions in the bill, as it has not inked any deal with the US in this regard.

October 8th, 2009 Washington, Oct.8: US Senator John Kerry, the main sponsor of the controversial Kerry Lugar Bill, has said that there are no conditions in respect to the civilian and economic assistance attached to the Bill, rather it contains accountability measures to ensure that the amount is spent in exactly in the way it is being provided for. "There are measures of financial accountability in place to ensure the money is spent in a way that the American people want it to be spent," Kerry said.

October 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government is not bound to accept the terms and conditions attached with the Kerry Lugar Bill and the final decision in this regard would be taken by Parliament. Addressing the National Assembly, Gilani said he has already taken President Asif Ali Zardari and the Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani into confidence over the issue.

October 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Defending the Kerry Lugar Bill, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has termed the controversial aid package as a 'big success' of his government. Addressing a meeting of government coalition partners, Gilani said the United States has assured all help to Pakistan.

October 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Senator John Kerry, the main sponsor of the controversial Kerry Lugar Bill, has said Washington has no intention to harm Pakistan's sovereignty through the Bill. Addressing a press conference after meeting Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi here, Kerry said the Obama Administration wants to work for the better of the Pakistanis and stressed that the aid Bill is a clear sign of US' direct relations with the people of Pakistan.

October 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's senators have slammed the Kerry-Lugar Bill saying that it targets the country's nuclear weapons. Opposition senators, including Raja Zafar ul Haq, Waseem Sajjad, Ishaq Dar, urged the government to reject it as it was against the independence and sovereignty of Pakistan.

October 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan's envoy to the US, Hussain Haqqani, has said the Kerry-Lugar Bill has no provision to restrict Islamabad's nuclear programme. However, he added, that the bill prevents Pakistan from being part of any outward proliferation.

September 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Amid the growing discontent over the conditions attached with the Kerry-Lugar aid bill in the country, Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani has said that the US' policies could not be altered. "The US was the sole super power of the contemporary world and it was not possible for any country to influence its polices.

September 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has criticized the PPP government for keeping the people of the country in the dark over the terms and conditions attached with the Kerry Lugar aid bill, and has termed the 1.5 billion dollar annual US assistance as 'peanuts'. Interacting with media persons here, PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said the government should take parliament into confidence before accepting the conditions stated in the bill.

September 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid has termed the Kerry-Lugar economic aid bill as an "insult to Pakistan", demanding an explanation from the government on how it has accepted the language of the bill that weakens Pakistan's position on the international front. The Daily Times quoted PML-Q legislator Marvi Memon, as saying that "asking Pakistan to cease support - including by any elements within the military or intelligence agencies - to extremist and terrorist groups" in the text of the Kerry-Lugar bill was insulting and sent a wrong message to the world.