Pakistan seeks national consensus on U.S. aid bill

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Pakistan is seeking a national consensus on a U.S. aid bill after the powerful military voiced serious concern about conditions in the legislation that critics say amount to a humiliating violation of sovereignty.
The army's unusual public criticism of a diplomatic matter appears to have opened a rift with President Asif Ali Zardari's fragile government, which had earlier rejected opposition complaints that the U.S. bill undermined sovereignty.
Analysts are not predicting any immediate show-down between the military, which has vowed to stay out of politics, and the government but say the army's criticism could embolden the opposition which has whipped up criticism of Zardari.
The U.S. Congress last week approved a bill tripling aid for Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year for the next five years and sent it to President Barack Obama for signing into law.
But in an effort to address U.S. concerns that Pakistan's military may support militant groups, the bill stipulates conditions for security aid, among them that Pakistan must show commitment in fighting terrorism.
In the face of opposition complaints, the government agreed to a debate in the National Assembly which took up the issue on Wednesday and was due to continue deliberations on Thursday.
"Our parliament is supreme to take decisions and submit or recommend their view point to the government," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abul Basit told a weekly briefing.
"We would make sure that our response is based on national consensus," he said.
The possibility of tension between the military and the government unnerved investors in Pakistani stocks and the main index ended nearly 1 percent lower at 9,740.87 points.
"Investors booked profits due to uncertainty about the Kerry-Lugar bill and the implications it is having on the political scenario," said Asad Iqbal, managing director at Ismail Iqbal Securities Ltd.
CONCERN ABOUT TENSION
The outcry over the bill comes as the United States, Pakistan's biggest aid donor, presses the army to expand its operations against Pakistani Taliban fighters to include Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda militants in lawless border enclaves.
Clauses in the bill require the U.S. secretary of state to certify that Pakistan is dismantling militant bases in its northwest, in the southwestern city of Quetta where U.S. administration believes the Afghan Taliban leaders are hiding as well as in Punjab province, where anti-India groups lurk.
The bill also seeks Pakistani cooperation in dismantling nuclear supplier networks by offering "relevant information from or direct access to" Pakistani associated with such networks.
That is a reference to disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan who ran a black market in atomic technology. Pakistan has declined to let foreign investigators question Khan.
The bill, co-authored by Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, also provides for an assessment of how effective the civilian government's control is over the military, including in the promotion of top military officials.
The "serious concern" raised by the army has raised tension in a country where the latest stint of military rule ended just over a year ago with the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf, a former army chief who seized power in 1999.
Analysts say military's criticism could encourage the opposition to intensify its campaign against the government.
"This can affect civilian-military relations as well as government-opposition relations," former general turned analyst Talat Masood said. (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)