US reassures Pakistan on civilian aid

Pakistan

US reassures Pakistan on civilian aid

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The United States on Thursday reassured Pakistan it will keep sending civilian assistance.

14 July,2011 11:31 pm

Thomas Nides, the US deputy secretary of state for management and resources, delivered the message in a telephone conversation with Pakistans Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the State Department said.We do have the slowdown on the security side, but our civilian assistance remains undeterred, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, describing the phone call.We continue to work productively on the civilian side. That assistance continues to flow, Toner told reporters.The United States suspended the military assistance -- about one third of its $2.7 billion annual defense package -- some two months after a US operation killed top terror suspect Osama bin Laden.Toner said that the United States has given Pakistan some $2 billion in civilian aid since a major congressional bill was approved in 2009. Of the aid, $550 million was emergency relief for Pakistans massive floods last year.