With the start of the New Year, Donald Trump is letting go of Iran for now, and directing his latest tweet to Pakistan, labeling the country a haven for terrorist. The latest tweet comes as the US is looking to stop giving $255 million in aids to the country for showing no effort in fighting terrorism.
In his tweet, President Trump wrote;
Mr Trump in many of his speeches has condemned the Pakistani government of allowing terrorist the use of the country as a safe haven, especially terrorists that the US are trying to hunt down in Afghanistan. In a speech in Washington in August, Donald Trump said;
We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbour terrorists.
The US has now conditioned to release the money to Pakistan only if it joins the effort of the US to crack down on terrorist networks.
The New York Times have reported that the recent development is the Pakistan government refusing access to a captured Taliban-linked Haqqani network militant.
The militant was arrested last week by the Pakistani forces after they rescued a Canadian-American family, and the US had hoped that the Pakistani forces would allow access to the militant so he could provide more information about other American hostages, but instead were denied.
Also, in November, the Pakistani government releases a suspect who was said to have masterminded an attack in Mumbai that killed 160 people in 2008.
According to Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, while commenting on the suspect released by the Pakistan government, she said;
If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan’s global reputation.
Pakistan authorities have drafted plans to seize control of the charities and any financial assets that is linked to the Islamist leader, who in Washington has been marked as terrorist.