WASHINGTON, April 18: The United States intends to provide $956 million to Pakistan between 2008 and 2011 as part of a comprehensive plan to expand its engagement with the country from military to civilian sectors.

In its latest report, the US Government Accountability Office noted that if approved, this fund will be used for development, security, capacity building and infrastructure.

The need to enhance US engagement in Pakistan followed a realisation in Washington that the military alone cannot rid the country of terrorism.

The GAO noted that terrorism had spread beyond the tribal areas and was now threatening the entire country. “The terrorist assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto could encourage terrorists to strike the Pakistani establishment anywhere in the country … radical elements now have the potential to undermine Pakistan itself,” the report warned.

The GAO assessment of terrorism threats in Pakistan covers the period from July 2007 through April 2008 and strongly backs the US Embassy’s recommendation that Washington needs to develop a multifaceted approach to deal with terrorism in Pakistan.

The new approach, if approved by the administration and key US government agencies, would constitute the US government’s first attempt to focus more attention on key elements other than military ones to address US counterterrorism goals in Pakistan. These elements include development assistance and public diplomacy, as well as counterinsurgency training, which have not been part of the previous military approach.

The new strategy also calls for greater levels of direct US planning, implementation, coordination and oversight.

But the report noted that “this new approach does not yet constitute a comprehensive plan, and all of the agencies’ individual efforts have not been fully approved in Washington.”

The report also pointed out that such efforts suffer from funding shortfalls, and support by the recently elected government of Pakistan is also uncertain.

The GAO reported that the United State is also supporting Pakistan’s Sustainable Development Plan for the Fata. Pakistan’s plan is a nine-year, $2 billion effort to provide economic development, extend the influence of the Pakistani government and establish security in the Fata.

To assist this effort, the Pentagon undertook a counterinsurgency assessment in the Fata and began developing its Security Development Plan. At the same time, USAID provided technical assistance to the Pakistani government to help formalise its Sustainable Development Plan, as well as to plan USAID-development activities in the Fata.

All development efforts in the Fata will be directly planned, implemented, coordinated and monitored by the US Embassy in Pakistan. As of September 2007, the embassy planned to spend $187.6 million on this initial effort using fiscal year 2007 funds.

Since 2002, the United States relied principally on the military to address US national security goals in Pakistan.

Of the over $10.5 billion that the United States has provided to Pakistan from 2002 through 2007, the GAO identified about $5.8 billion specifically for the Fata and border regions; about 96 per cent of this funding reimbursed Pakistan for military operations in the Fata and the border region.

“There have been limited efforts, however, to address other underlying causes of terrorism in the Fata by providing development assistance or by addressing the Fata’s political needs,” the GAO noted.