WASHINGTON, Jan 1: Key members of the US House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations have threatened Pakistan with more aid cuts if elections are not held on time and if the government fails to hold an independent inquiry into Benazir Bhutto’s murder.

Last month, Congress withheld $50 million from a $300 million US military assistance for Pakistan, binding the release of this fund to a report from the US government that Islamabad is playing its role in the war on terror and is taking steps to bring democracy to the country.

In a new year eve letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, 13 members of the US Congress threatened to “focus” on the $50 million already withheld and consider denying more funds to Pakistan if its conditions are not met.

The committee practically enjoys a veto power over US foreign aid and can prevent the administration from transferring funds to Pakistan if it wishes to do so.

The members also condemned the Bush administration for saying that although it opposes any delay in the elections, it will accept the postponement if Islamabad sets a specific date.

“It is practically an open invitation to postpone those elections,” the lawmakers said.

“As you know, Congress has withheld $50 million in aid to Pakistan in this year’s appropriations process,” the letter said.

“Without being satisfied that an investigation is truly impartial and independent, and with the belief that elections were postponed in order to further setback the democratic aspirations of the Pakistani people, we will focus intently on the status of these funds already withheld and may seek additional restrictions in the future appropriations bills.”

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has promised to endorse the letter when Congress resumes after the New Year holiday, has already called for an international investigation into the assassination before releasing any more aid to Pakistan.

Ms Pelosi, a Democrat, said in a statement that the US government should make its assistance to Pakistan conditional on the country’s probe of Ms Bhutto’s assassination and cooperation in the anti-terrorism war with the US.

“The refusal by the Musharraf government to accept international assistance with the investigation of the assassination of former prime minister Bhutto, and recent reports that previous US aid to Pakistan has been misspent, raise troubling questions about whether those conditions are being met,” she said.