Pakistani PM urges no conditions on US aid

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani (R) and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry meet before their meeting in Islamabad April 13, 2009.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The United States should not put conditions on an expected substantial increase in U.S. aid to its ally Pakistan, Pakistan's prime minister told visiting U.S. Senator John Kerry on Monday.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is crucial to U.S. efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan and to peace in South Asia.

Pakistan is struggling to stem surging Islamist violence and put back on track an economy being kept afloat with the help of a $7.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan.

Pakistan is due to make its case for help to allies and donors at meetings in Tokyo on Friday, where it hopes to win $4 billion in aid over the next two years to fill a financing gap.

The United States is expected to make a pledge of substantial help although U.S. President Barack Obama has said the release of additional aid would depend on how Pakistan tackled terrorism.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that Pakistan needed unconditional help.

"The U.S. should not attach conditional ties to the assistance," Gilani's office quoted him as saying. "Aid with strings attached would fail to generate the desired goodwill and results."

Kerry, who arrived in Islamabad earlier on Monday, is pushing a bill, along with the ranking Republican on his committee, Richard Lugar, for a tripling of non-military aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year.

Differences between Pakistan and the United States emerged last week during a visit by U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

ADDRESSING THE THREAT

Pakistan objects to missile strikes by pilotless U.S. drones on militants in Pakistan, saying they violate its sovereignty and are counter-productive in fighting terrorism.

Pakistan has also been angered by U.S. accusations elements in its military's Inter-Services Intelligence agency had contact with, or even provided support to, militants.

Pakistan for years used Islamists to further objectives in Afghanistan and Kashmir, which both Pakistan and India claim, but it has denied accusations it has maintained support.

Kerry later told a news conference Pakistan was serious about battling terrorism.

"I am personally confident that the government of Pakistan is committed to addressing the threat posed by militants ... not just in Pakistan but in countries all over the globe," he said.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper said recently a condition would be included in the U.S. aid bill requiring Pakistan to stop support to any person or group aiming to hurt India.

Pakistan has for years backed Kashmiri militants and India has accused Pakistan of backing militants who have attacked Indian cities, including Mumbai in November. Pakistan denies any involvement by state agencies in such attacks.

Another condition to be included in the U.S. aid bill, Dawn reported, was that Pakistan ensures access to individuals suspected of involvement in nuclear proliferation.

Pakistan has turned down requests by foreign investigators to question its disgraced nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, who admitted in 2004 to passing on nuclear secrets.

Kerry did not comment on those two reported conditions while Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quershi told a news conference with Kerry conditions on U.S. aid had not been finalized.

"We have to wait and see. The idea is to help Pakistan ... not to micro-manage Pakistan," Quershi said.

(Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)