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Pakistan defers F-16 deal: paper

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan delayed signing the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) for the F-16 deal with the United States on the issue of the aircraft being stripped down for this sale and on conditionalities of usage, a newspaper said on Friday.

The weekly Friday Times reported that the Ministry of Defence had asked the U.S. Secretary of Air Force International Affairs, who is co-ordinating the $3-billion sale, for time till December 31, 2006 to sign the LoA.

The decision not to sign the letter of acceptance in a hurry came after the Pakistan Air Force briefed President Pervez Musharraf that the F-16s would be minus certain crucial electronic/digital systems that would render them incapable of delivering nuclear weapons or of penetrating "well-defended' foreign airspaces. According to reports, the F-16s will not be able to detect NATO aircraft.

Testimony in House

In a testimony before the House International Relations Committee in July on the F-16s deal, John Hillen, Assistant Secretary, in the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs said the U.S. had included "approved security plans for their F-16-related bases and facilities before we release any systems in the sale".

The U.S. would maintain a presence at the bases where the F-16s were stationed to monitor compliance with the plan; access to the aircraft would be restricted to pre-approved Pakistan Air Force personnel.

Mr. Hillen said this security and monitoring plan would give the U.S. access and influence that would enable it to be involved in a "leadership" position in determining how the F-16s were used.

The newspaper quoted a source saying Gen. Musharraf would take up the matter with U.S. President George Bush at their meeting on Friday.

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