U.S. to Repay Pakistan for Undelivered F-16s

Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif announced on December 19 that the United States and Pakistan had settled an eight-year dispute arising from Washington's non-delivery of 28 F-16 fighters, for which Islamabad paid $658 million in 1989. President Clinton had pledged an early and fair resolution of the problem at a December 2 meeting with Sharif.

Under the terms of the agreement, the United States agreed to pay Islamabad $326.9 million, almost all of which which will come from the Treasury Department Judgement Fund (used to settle legal disputes), and provide goods worth another $140 million, including $60 million in wheat. Washington had earlier reimbursed Islamabad $157 million for the fighters. The United States stopped delivery of the F-16s in 1990 in accordance with the 1985 Pressler amendment, which proscribes U.S. military sales and assistance to Pakistan if the president cannot certify that Islamabad does not possess a "nuclear explosive device."

New Zealand announced on December 1 that it would purchase, through two consecutive five-year leases, the 28 fighters previously sold to Pakistan. The proposed deal is estimated at between $105 and $125 million.