The Bush administration has said that it is not involved in any "out of the ordinary efforts" with respect to the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan as it insisted that it would only be approriate for Islamabad to speak whether or not it wanted to move forward with the deal.
"At this point what I'm going to do is I'm going to let the Pakistanis speak about whether or not they want to move forward with the decision to purchase the F-16s," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington Friday.
"We've been talking to them. We've talked to them, but I think out of respect for that diplomatic dialogue I'm going to let the Pakistanis speak as the definitive voice as to whether they want to move forward at this point with that sale," he said.
Asked if the company selling the F-16s had asked the State Department to "try and push the Pakistanis into accepting the deal", the spokesman remarked, "I' m not aware of it. I am not aware of any sort of out-of-the-ordinary efforts by the State Department with regard to this sale".
His comments followed Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's announcement that Islamabad would postpone the purchase of F-16 fighter jets from the US to focus on quake relief and rehabilitation work.
McCormack would not directly address the issue if Washington has been formally notified by Islamabad of its decision to delay the purchase of the F-16s.
"It's a matter of ongoing discussion with the Pakistan government. But I would -- in terms of whether or not the sale is going to move forward, I'd let them talk about it.
"Certainly, the government of Pakistan and the Pakistani people are facing incredible challenges right now as not only are they still trying to deal with the relief phase in the aftermath of this tragic earthquake, but also looking ahead to the reconstruction phase," the spokesman said.
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