Thursday, April 14 2005 08:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: A bill to block the sale of F-16s to Pakistan unless it grants access to its disgraced scientist A Q Khan, involved in a clandestine nuclear proliferation network, was introduced in the US Congress.

Congressman Gary Ackerman's bill, co-sponsored by representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Joseph Crowley, Robert Menendez, Frank Pallone and Diane Watson, was officially introduced on Tuesday night (Apr 12, 2005).

The legislation is now pending before the House International Relations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the issue.

Announcing the legislation earlier on April 4, Ackerman, Democratic Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said, "It is incomprehensible that we would provide sophisticated military equipment to Pakistan when its President Pervez Musharraf refuses to let us interview A Q Khan."

United States intelligence agencies have attempted to interview Khan about his activities but Musharraf, who pardoned Khan in 2004 and put him under house arrest, has refused to allow the US access to him, Ackerman had said.