Obama signs Kerry-Lugar Bill

President Barack Obama signed a 7.5 billion dollar aid package for Pakistan into law Thursday, after the US Congress acted to placate critics in Islamabad who warned it violated Pakistani sovereignty. "This law is the tangible manifestation of broad support for Pakistan in the US, as evidenced by its bipartisan, bicameral, unanimous passage in Congress," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. The package is intended to bolster Pakistan's battle against extremism. The measure offers 1.5 billion dollars a year for five years to improve Pakistani schools, to fund groups that defend the rights of women and children, and money to train and modernize the Pakistani peace force. It also supports voter education, civil society and improvements in the functioning of parliament. Fears for the package's future were quelled when Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard Berman, who head committees handling foreign relations in Congress, gave Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi a document stating that the plan did not impose conditions or infringe on Pakistani sovereignty. The lawmakers' statement said the aid was meant "to forge a closer collaborative relationship between Pakistan and the United States, not to dictate the national policy or impinge on the sovereignty of Pakistan in any way. Any interpretation of this act which suggests that the United States does not fully recognize and respect the sovereignty of Pakistan would be directly contrary to congressional intent," it said. Obama's move followed days of tension over the package, which sparked a showdown between the Pakistani government and the powerful military, prompting Pakistan's Foreign Minister to rush to Washington on a rescue mission.