Washington: A Bill seeking implementation of the recommendations of the National Commission on terrorist attacks upon the United States threatens to cut off funding to Pakistan until certain actions have been taken including cooperation on coming to terms with the Taliban.

The piece of legislation that cleared the House of Representatives on January 9 by a margin of 299 to 128 votes will be taken up by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The bill has a finding of Congress that states that while the Pakistan has been an "important partner" in helping remove the Taliban from Afghanistan and combatting international terrorism in its frontier areas there remained a number of critical issues that disrupted the bilateral relationship.

Some of the listed issues would include curbing the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology, combatting poverty and corruption, building effective Government institutions, promoting democracy and the rule of law.

The stipulation is that for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 US assistance under relevant sections of various may not be provided or approved for Pakistan until 15 days after the Presidential determination and certification that Islamabad was making all possible efforts to prevent the Taliban from operating in areas under its control.