WASHINGTON: A bill to fund the United States government also requires Pakistan to release Dr Shakil Afridi or forgo $33 million from the annual assistance it receives from the US.

The bill binds the US administration to withhold $33m from the funds meant for Pakistan “until the Secretary of State reports to Congress that Dr Shakil Afridi has been released from prison and cleared of all charges relating to the assistance provided to the United States in locating Osama bin Laden”.

In the bill, Congress also set aside clear benchmarks for Pakistan to fight terrorism, with a warning that the failure to do so could lead to the suspension of US assistance.

The suggested measures are included in a trillion-dollar spending bill Congress approved on Tuesday to fund the government for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

A portion of the bill comprises guidelines for the US on how to provide both military and economic assistance to Pakistan during the current fiscal year.

While outlining various conditions for continuing US assistance to Pakistan, Congress also requires the administration to devise a “spend plan”, which shall include “achievable and sustainable goals, benchmarks for measuring progress, and expected results for combating poverty and furthering development”.

The plan shall also include benchmarks for countering extremism and establishing conditions conducive to the rule of law and transparent and accountable governance.

Not later than six months after submission of this spend plan, and each six months thereafter until Sept 30, 2015, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations on the status of achieving these goals and benchmarks.

“The Secretary of State should suspend assistance for the government of Pakistan if any report indicates that Pakistan is failing to make measurable progress in meeting such goals or benchmarks.”

Not later than 90 days after enactment of this act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations detailing the costs and objectives associated with significant infrastructure projects supported by the United States in Pakistan, and an assessment of the extent to which such projects achieve such objectives.

Some of these conditions were already included in a defence authorisation bill passed last month which have now been further expanded. The defence authorisation act, however, did not deal with civilian assistance, which has now been included in the spending bill for the next fiscal year.

The bill says that none of the funds meant for Pakistan under the headings “Economic Support Fund”, “International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement”, and “Foreign Military Financing Programme” can be distributed unless the Secretary of State certifies that Islamabad is cooperating with the United States in counter-terrorism efforts against the Haqqani Network, the Quetta Shura Taliban, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al Qaeda, and other domestic and foreign terrorist organisations.

This includes taking steps to end support for such groups and to prevent them from basing and operating in Pakistan and carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries.