8216;Pak failed to demonstrate its real commitment to partner US8217;

Congressman Norman calls for reviewing the aid to Islamabad.

Pakistan has failed to demonstrate its real commitment to partner with the US in the war against terrorism,a top American lawmaker has said,echoing his colleagues8217; calls for reviewing the aid to Islamabad.

8220;Although Pakistan has received billions of dollars in US military assistance,and has assigned a considerable portion of its forces to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas,it has failed to demonstrate in fundamental ways a real commitment to partnership with the US in pursuing threats to both of our Nations,8221; Congressman Norman Dicks said.

8220;In Pakistan,the fact that Osama bin Laden was ultimately found in Abbottabad,where he had been hiding for years in a compound in the immediate proximity of senior Pakistani military officials,calls into question either the extent of Pakistani commitment to partnership with the US or the competence of Pakistani officials,8221; Dicks said.

8220;More recently,it has been reported that Pakistani officials may have tipped off insurgents about possible raids to be conducted by the Pakistani military,8221; he wrote in his comment as part of Defence Appropriations Bill passed by the House Committee on Appropriations.

8220;It has also been widely reported that Pakistan8217;s Inter-service Intelligence ISI Directorate has extensive links to drug dealers and Islamic extremists and has been an active source of instability in Pakistan,Afghanistan and throughout the immediate region,8221; Dicks said.

8220;The ISI helped the Taliban rise to power in the 19908217;s,and the Pakistani government is suspected of turning a blind eye to Taliban operating out of Quetta,8221; Dicks wrote.

8220;The confluence of circumstances and timing argues strongly,in my judgement,for a more expeditious reduction of our presence in the region.We should accomplish this objective with some degree of caution,guarding against a vacuum similar to the one that occurred at the end of the Soviet occupation in 1989,8221; Dicks said.

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To this end,he said,the US should pursue its goals in Afghanistan through political means.

8220;This has apparently been initiated in the form of talks reported to be taking place between Taliban representatives and US officials under sponsorship of the German government,8221; he said.

8220;As negotiations continue,they must take into account the interests of surrounding nations such as Pakistan and others to ensure that countries neighbouring Afghanistan do not fight with one another along sectarian or tribal divides within Afghanistan,8221; Dicks said.

8220;Such negotiations should also be backed up by the prospect of either US or international forces to ensure that Afghanistan does not revert back to conditions prior to the Taliban8217;s defeat,8221; he said.