US to provide $750 million aid for setting up ROZs in tribal areas
ISLAMABAD (March 16 2007): The United States on Thursday announced it would provide Pakistan a financial assistance of $750 million over the next five years for the economic uplift of tribal areas. The aid would be utilised for the establishment of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in the tribal belt.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher told a news conference here. “This commitment to the development of Pakistan is another example of the very broad and deep relations that we have,” Boucher, who met earlier with President Musharraf, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, remarked.
As a first step, he revealed, the Bush administration had asked the Congress to spare $110 million in current fiscal budget for the development of tribal region of Pakistan. In addition to that, US Defence Department would provide an assistance of $75 million to the Frontier Corps for training and latest military gadgets, he further said.
His announcement comes a day after US Senate approved a legislation that calls for the US President to certify the Congress that Pakistan is co-operating in the war against terrorism before approving any military assistance for Islamabad.
However, Boucher insisted the legislation had to be tabled in both houses-the Senate and House of Representatives-before it becomes a law. He said it was wrong to assume that this new piece of legislation was in any way a ‘second Pressler.’
“I am very confident that in the final legislation there would not be any such provisions,” he assured. He also said the Bush administration was preparing draft legislation on ROZs, which would be introduced in the Congress soon.
US President Bush announced the plan of establishing ROZs during his maiden visit to Pakistan last year. The items to be produced by the proposed ROZs in the tribal areas will have duty-free access to the US market. The impoverished, semi-autonomous tribal areas on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan are viewed in the US as al Qaeda and Taliban strongholds, from where militants have been launching attacks into Afghanistan.
The objective behind the plan is to create economic opportunities in the tribal areas and woo the tribesmen, who may have loyalties with the Taliban and al Qaeda elements. Asked to comment on the North Waziristan deal, the US official claimed that accord with the tribesmen did not stop cross-border movements and bombing in Pakistani cities. It is up to the Pakistan government to judge whether such deals are workable, he added.
Lauding Pakistan’s role in the war against terrorism, he observed that President Musharraf is a key ally in this global campaign. “We are seeking long-term strategic partnership with Pakistan,” he further said.