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NATO supply: US senator terms Pak demand extortion

Dunya News

US senator John McCain has termed Pakistan demand as extortion to restore NATO supply.

Senators John McCain said the US should not pay up to $5,000 per truck which he called “extortion” to Pakistan to allow NATO supply lines to pass through its territory into Afghanistan.In a fresh warning to Pakistan, a Senate panel Tuesday approved a foreign aid budget for next year that slashes President Obama’s request for assistance to Islamabad by more than half and threatens further reductions if it fails to open supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan.Senators John McCain and Carl Levin, the chair and ranking members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US should not pay up to $5,000 per truck which McCain called “extortion” to Pakistan to allow NATO supply lines to pass through its territory into Afghanistan.Speaking to a US news outlet ‘The Cable’, Senator McCain said: “We can’t look at aid in that light. It’s now becoming a matter of principle.”Senator Carl Levin said that the US should not pay Pakistan fees anywhere near that level.