WASHINGTON, Nov 22: As many as 50 per cent respondents to a survey in the United States said they want their government to cut off monetary assistance to Pakistan until the state of emergency is lifted.

A sizeable minority, 34 per cent, however, opposed severing aid while 16 per cent said they did not know how to respond to the current situation in Pakistan.

The survey, by Opinion Dynamics, a leading US firm specialising in opinion research, for Fox News, shows a growing concern in the United States over the Bush administration’s handling of the situation in Pakistan.

It was conducted on Nov 13 and Nov 14, when the US media’s interest in Pakistan was at its peak with some newspapers publishing as many as six stories a day on the imposition of emergency and its repercussion for the rest of the world.

Only registered American voters were interviewed for this survey. It has a margin of error of plus, minus three per cent.

The survey report recalls that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto also has urged Washington to threaten to cut aid to Pakistan to press for the restoration of democracy. “I would like to see aid used as a leverage to influence Gen Musharraf as well as the armed forces. (...) They’re benefiting from the immense international assistance that is coming into Pakistan,” she said.

The US has provided Pakistan $10.59 billion in military, economic and development aid since Sept 11, 2001.