Pakistan on Saturday said the U. S. Congress technically run out of time to stop the sale of Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said she hoped delivery of the planes will start as soon as possible.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on June 28 of a possible foreign military sale to Pakistan of 36 F- 16s, a deal worth up to 5 billion U.S. dollars.

Lawmakers had a 30-day review period, during which they can move to block the sale.

Opponents of the deal could not succeed to block it and the deadline expired on Friday.

"This was a positive development. It has removed all hurdles in the way of the deal," Aslam said.

She would not say when the delivery of the planes will start but hoped that the supply will begin as a formal agreement is struck.

The F-16 plane is part of the arms sale, which is going to take a few years.

Lockheed is expected to deliver 18 aircraft at first with a follow-on option for another 18, according to reports.

"The F-16 sale furthers the national security interests of both Pakistan and the United States," said Mark Tavlarides, a lobbyist with Van Scoyoc Associates who represents the government of Pakistan.

The approximately 5 billion dollars F-16 sale is a presidential priority and is part of the Bush administration's South Asia strategy, aimed at broadening its relationships with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, Tavlarides said.

Source: Xinhua