& what were saying about Pakistan buying F-16s-
Pak has option to get F-16s free from US under aid programme
Press Trust of India
Islamabad, March 31, 2005|18:38 IST
Pakistan has the option of getting some of the F-16 fighter jets free from the US under the $3 billion assistance announced by Washington in 2003.
This was stated by American envoy Ryan C Crocker while launching the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded Poverty Alleviation Programme. The USDA has given a $25 million grant to the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund for the project.
Crocker said a technical team of US officials would visit Pakistan in the next few weeks to finalise details related to the sale of the fighter jets to Islamabad.
He did not mention the exact date of arrival of the US technical team.
Asked about resolution of Kashmir problem, he said it "is an old and difficult issue". However, the overall progress on the issue was encouraging, he said, pointing out that launch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service would provide an opportunity to the Kashmiris on both sides to meet.
The $3 billion assistance announced by President George W Bush in the summer of 2003 for Pakistan was getting underway this year, local daily Dawn quoted Crocker as saying.
Under the programme, Pakistan would get 600 million annual tranche equally divided between military and economic, it said. The overall US assistance to Pakistan per year is working out to around $700 million, Crocker said.
Both Crocker and Pakistan officials have been saying that the country has the option of buying the F-16 jets under the US aid programme or with the its own funds.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_1300946,000500020000.htm
I still do not understand as to why the USA is giving F-16s to Pakistan and would like to know. Pakistan terrorists are a threat to the USA and are listed as such. ...can't help but wonder if something else is going to happen there...maybe another sinkhole for the more prickly terrorist groups, as in Iraq?