WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, Reuter: Congressional negotiators agreed on Thursday to permit President Reagan to waive restrictions against aid to Pakistan for 30 months,
Representative Charles Wilson, a Texas Democrat and one of the negotiators, said House of Representatives and Senate bargainers had reached a compromise on the issue,
He said aid would be renewed despite reports that Pakistan is developing the capability to build nuclear weapons which would violate a law preventing any assistance.
The compromise was worked out by negotiators on a large spending bill for government activities through next September.
The Senate in its version of the Bill had agreed to a ban military aid to Pakistan unless the President could certify that Pakistan was not developing weapons grade plutonium.
Under the plan, economic aid would go to Pakistan if the President decided it was in the national interest.
The House version of the plan had no restrictions on resumption of aid beyond mid-January when the current aid suspension expires if a Presidential waiver were granted,
Under the agreement, expected to win final Congressional approval, Wilson said Pakistan would get 260 million dollars in foreign military sales and 220 million dollars in economic assistance with 30 million dollars of the foreign military assistance forgiven.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 25, 1987
