June 13, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 16, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 12: Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam on Monday rejected the notion that the cut in the US aid to Pakistan proposed by the US House of Representatives signalled a shift in the US policy towards Pakistan.

At a weekly news briefing here, she said: “Let me clarify that the cuts have been imposed by the House of Representatives, it has yet to be considered by the US Senate,” she said. Ms Aslam said the discussion on the Bill in the House of Representatives was part of a long process and the Senate was considering the bill on its part and was yet to pronounce itself on what the Administration had requested.

“If the Senate adopts a different version of the bill than the one adopted by the House of Representatives the differences between these two will be reconciled in the Conference Committee of the two Houses,” she explained.

The spokesperson told the news briefing that Pakistan had raised the proposed cuts with the US Administration and added: “We understand that the Administration would work to ensure that the original amount committed to Pakistan by President Bush is restored.” She recalled that similar reductions were also made last year (2005-2006) and the reductions proposed then were to the tune of $80 million but later on the amount was restored in the Conference Committee.

—Q.A.