Obama signs defence spending bill

US President Barack Obama has signed into law a massive USD 662-billion defence spending bill that also seeks to suspend a big chunk of USD 1.1 billion military aid to Pakistan, despite his "serious reservations" about provisions regulating detention and prosecution of suspected terrorists. 

"I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists," Obama said in a statement last evening after signing the bill in Hawaii, where the First Family is currently on the year-end vacation.

The USD 662-billion defence authorisation bill for the year 2012, among other things, seeks to suspend 60 per cent of USD 1.1 billion military aid to Pakistan -- under the category Pakistan Counter-insurgency Fund - till Secretaries of State and Defence report to the Congress that Islamabad is making progress in the war on terror, particularly progress in strategies to counter manufacturing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

IEDs, which are mostly manufactured in Pakistan in its illicit factories, are one of the largest factors responsible for the death of American troops in Afghanistan.

However, Obama in his signing statement made no reference to this provision of the bill, which had drawn widespread condemnation in Pakistan and put another strain in US-Pakistan relationship.

The Obama administration has maintained that the bill under no circumstances results in suspension of US military aid to Pakistan; as being interpreted by the Pakistani media.