The United States has announced it is holding back some military aid to Pakistan, after a media report said $800 million was being withheld.
White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley said Pakistan had "taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid."
He told ABC's This Week program that there was a "lot of pain" in Pakistan over the U.S. raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in the country in May.
Daley recognized that Pakistan had been "an important ally in the fight on terrorism," but added that the U.S.-Pakistan relationship was "complicated."
"Until we get through these difficulties, he said, we will hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give them."
Earlier, "The New York Times" reported that about $800 million in military aid and equipment, or some one-third of the more than $2 billion in annual U.S. security assistance to Pakistan, could be affected by the suspension.
The U.S. paper quoted senior U.S. officials as saying the move was to show U.S. anger at the expulsion of U.S. military trainers and to pressure Pakistan to step up its fight against militants.
with agency reports
with agency reports