WASHINGTON, Sept 22: Pakistan will have to fight the Haqqani network and other militant groups if it wants to continue to receive economic and security assistance from the United States, says the US Senate Appropriations Committee.

The restrictions are included in the US Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programmes Appropriations bill for the fiscal 2012 the Senate passed on Wednesday evening by a 28-2 vote.

The bill does not specify amounts for assistance for Pakistan but does provide $1 billion for the Pakistan Counter-insurgency Capability Fund which is $100 million below President Barack Obama’s request.

The bill includes strengthened restrictions on assistance for Pakistan by conditioning all funds to the government of Pakistan on cooperation against the Haqqani network, Al Qaeda, and other terrorist organisations, with a waiver, and funding based on achieving benchmarks.

Lawmakers who participated in the debate said they were leaving it to the Obama administration to set the level of assistance to Pakistan and notify Congress – or provide nothing at all.

“If the administration wants to provide zero, that’d be OK with us,” said Republican Senator Mark Kirk, one of the more vocal critics of Pakistan on the panel.

According to the original bill from the House Committee on Appropriations, and approved by the Senate, none of the funds meant for Pakistan may be made available until the secretary of state, in consultation with the secretary of defence and the director of national intelligence, certifies and reports in writing that: The government of Pakistan is continuing to cooperate with the United States in efforts to dismantle supplier networks relating to the acquisition of nuclear weapons-related materials, such as providing relevant information from or direct access to Pakistani nationals associated with such networks.

(B) Pakistan is demonstrating a sustained commitment to and is making demonstrable progress in combating terrorist groups, including the extent to which the government of Pakistan is fully assisting the United States with investigating the existence of an official or unofficial support network in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden, including by providing the United States with direct access to Osama bin Laden’s relatives in Pakistan and to Osama bin Laden’s former compound in Abbottabad and any materials therein; (ii) Pakistan is facilitating the issuance of entry and exit visas for official United States visitors engaged in counter-terrorism efforts and training or other cooperative programmes and projects in Pakistan. (iii) Pakistan is ceasing support, including by any elements within the Pakistan military or its intelligence agency, to extremist and terrorist groups, particularly to any group that has conducted attacks against United States or coalition forces in Afghanistan, or against the territory or people of neighbouring countries. (iv) Pakistan is preventing Al Qaeda, the Taliban and associated terrorist groups, such as the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from operating in its territory.

This includes preventing them from carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries, closing terrorist camps in Fata and dismantling terrorist bases of operations in other parts of the country, including Quetta and Muridke.

Pakistan is taking action when provided with intelligence about high-level terrorist targets and eliminating improvised explosive device networks; (v) Pakistan is strengthening and fully implementing counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering laws. (2) The security forces of Pakistan are not materially and substantially subverting the political or judicial processes in the country. The conditions on US aid follow months of pressure on Pakistan to act against terrorist organisations, particularly the Haqqani network.

The Congressional Research Service says that Washington has allocated about $20 billion for Pakistan over the last decade. In fiscal 2010, Congress approved $1.7 billion for economic aid for Pakistan, and $2.7 billion in security aid. Under the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, popularly known as the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, Pakistan was to receive $7.5 billion in a period of five years. But so far it has only received about $360 million.