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 network, was introduced in the US Congress on Tuesday.
The bill was introduced by Congressman Gary Ackerman and was co-sponsored by representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Joseph Crowley, Robert Menendez, Frank Pallone and Diane Watson.
The legislation is now pending before the House of 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, had 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.
