The Pentagon announced late December 31 that it had approved the nearly 500 million dollar deal for 18 F-16s for Pakistan, with the deal awarded to Lockheed Martin Corp.

Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Democratic Party presidential hopeful, branded the move as "reckless," and said it contradicted new Congressional legislation designed to block such moves.

The decision to go ahead with the sale "shows how dangerously misguided President Bush's policy is," Biden said in a statement.

"How can the White House even think of green-lighting such a sale at such an incredibly sensitive time?" he said, referring to the political turmoil in Pakistan in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, who hoped to become prime minister.

"This is the time we should be putting the pressure on the government and military to fully investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and to hold free and fair elections -- not let them off the hook," Biden said.

Although the terms of the sale were not yet public, he noted that the recently passed Defense Appropriations bill "bars any assistance to Pakistan for weapons sales that are not for counter-terrorism purposes."

"If any US aid is involved, the sale is illegal," he said.

"If the sale involves no US assistance, it is technically legal but fundamentally misguided."

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