US suspends military aid to Pakistan

The United States is withholding some 570 million euros in aid to Pakistan, almost a third of the 1.9 billion euros in security assistance it provides each year to Islamabad.

Reuters/Khuram Parvez

Relations between the key allies have drastically deteriorated since US commandos shot and killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on 2 May on Pakistani territory.

Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Washington would slow down US military aid to Pakistan unless it took unspecified steps to help the United States.

Now, it appears, it has, as William Daley, Obama's chief of staff, confirmed a New York Times report that the administration was suspending and, in certain cases, cancelling some 570 million euros of military aid.

"They've taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid which we're giving to the military, and we're trying to work through that," Daley told ABC television.

"The Pakistani relationship is difficult, but it must be made to work over time. But until we get through these difficulties, we'll hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give," Daley said.

While Pakistan is a crucial ally in the hunt for Al-Qaeda and a major supply route to provision US troops in Afghanistan, its powerful military intelligence services have long been suspected of ties with radical Muslim groups.