Pentagon to release withheld Pak funds

Pakistan

Pentagon to release withheld Pak funds

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Pentagon is to release about $1.1 billion after reopening of NATO supply routes.

13 July,2012 06:57 pm

The withheld dollars are part of the U.S. Coalition Support Fund to reimburse Pakistan for its support of U.S. counter- insurgency operations, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain John Kirby told reporters on Friday.Payments were suspended last year amid increased U.S- Pakistan tensions even before Pakistan closed the land routes into Afghanistan in November as a result of an accidental U.S. attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.Pakistan, which had demanded a U.S. apology for the deaths, agreed to reopen the lines after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “we are sorry” in a statement on June 3.“Several trucks have gone through and this will continue,” Kirby told reporters today. “The traffic is starting to flow,” he said.Asked if Defense Secretary Leon Panetta agreed with Clinton’s statement of “deepest regrets,” Kirby said Panetta “fully supports the approach that was taken.”