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Published 19 Sep, 2011 04:36pm

US wants its Pakistan aid to reach more civilians

NEW YORK: The US ambassador to Pakistan says the Obama administration aims to increase the proportion of aid it provides for the country's civilian rather than military needs.

Ambassador Cameron Munter issued a blunt assessment Monday of a ''rough year'' in US-Pakistan relations, roiled by the killing by US forces' clandestine raid in May that killed Osama bin Laden.

He said military training and intelligence sharing efforts had gone backward but maintained that the two countries still recognised the need to work together in counterterrorism.

Munter said last year about $2 billion of US assistance had gone to the military and $1.5 billion for civilian needs.

He said increasing the portion that goes for civilian projects would support Washington's political goal of backing Pakistan's civilian government.

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