The presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan met Thursday with U.S. senators as Congress drafts a multibillion-dollar aid package to help fight extremism in the region. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended a session with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including its chairman, John Kerry (Democrat from Massachusetts). The presidents and senators were joined by General David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander for the region, and Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama's special envoy for South Asia. On Tuesday, Kerry said Thursday's meeting would address details on a proposal to triple civilian U.S. aid to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over the next five years, as well as congressional funding for the region. U.S. lawmakers are debating whether to attach conditions to the Pakistan aid or to include a set of benchmarks to help measure progress but not trigger a halt in aid.
