Bill may bar MNNA status to Pak

A new legislation aimed at making it difficult for President George W. Bush to formally designate Pakistan a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) has ...

A new legislation aimed at making it difficult for President George W. Bush to formally designate Pakistan a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) has been introduced in the US Congress.

The proposed legislation, introduced by Congressman Gary Ackerman, suggests changes in the way the US President can designate a nation a Major Non-NATO Ally, calling for two certifications — one on democracy and the other on weapons of mass destruction — from the leader. introducing the legislation, Ackerman said in an appeal to fellow legislators: ‘‘I would urge our colleagues to take a look and see if they’d be willing to co-sponsor that Bill.’’ ‘‘I’m truly astonished by Secretary (Colin) Powell’s announcement two weeks ago that the President would designate Pakistan as a Major Non-NATO Ally,’’ he said while explaining why he introduced the legislation.

‘‘What is truly amazing is that, in addition to giving Pakistan a pass on democratic development, the administration is also giving them a pass on proliferating nuclear technology,’’ said Ackerman, former co-chairman of the India Caucus in the US Congress. The proposed changes suggested by Ackerman would require two certifications from the US President before making that designation. The first certification deals with democracy and requires the President to certify that the designee is a democracy. The second certification deals with weapons of mass destruction.

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Many US lawmakers, particularly those in the Opposition Democratic Party, do not recognise the present political setup in Pakistan as democratic and would dispute the certification even if the US President were to declare Pakistan a democracy.

A certification from a US President, said analysts, could be interpreted as an official recognition of Pakistan’s nuclear programme and thus legitimise what the movers of the proposed legislation are fighting against especially in the context of proliferation by the ‘‘father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb’’, Dr A.Q. Khan’s nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Libya and Iran. —(PTI)