Islamabad Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, Lt Gen (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi, has called upon the US to immediately release the held up Coalition Support Fund (CSF) worth two billion dollars to take the ongoing war on terror to its logical end. Talking to US defence delegation led by the US Under Secretary of Defence, Ms Michele Flournov, which called on him at the Parliament House, Qazi made it clear in the meeting with the US delegation that delay in release of CSF was causing enormous harm to our efforts for eradication of terrorism. We urgently need this fund to ensure curbing menace of terrorism, he observed. This fund is held up since the last two years, he said. The sooner this amount is released, the better for carrying the ongoing war on terror to its logical end, he added. While referring to Pakistans sacrifices in war on terror, he said over 2500 personnel of armed forces embraced martyrdom and as many as 30 thousands civilians have lost their lives from 9/11 incident uptil now. Our struggle to combat terrorism is continuing despite heavy odds and we are committed to it, he remarked. Although our nation and country have suffered heavily, but we will not allow our country and leadership to be held hostage in the hands of terrorists, he underscored. The country is facing the worst ever economic downturn and investors are shying away from making investment while tourism has been ruined in the tribal areas, he said adding our determination however has not grown weaker. The Chairman Defence Committee said that the ongoing war against terrorism was being fully supported by the people, parliament, civil society and media. He stressed US should lend support in the areas of training, intelligence sharing, provision of night vision equipment to enhance the capabilities of the country to smash terrorists networks. The Chairman of the Committee underlined that better coordination between the two countries was a must for eradication of terrorist networks on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border so that the terrorists would not be able to cross over to the other side. To a question he said the Committee was carrying out parliamentary oversight of the defence budget. The leader of the US delegation strongly commended Pakistans pivotal role in the on-going war on terror adding that the US is looking forward to a long-term engagement with Pakistan. In this connection, she said, currently five years comprehensive programme for supporting anti-terror efforts is being contemplated which also envisages provision of arms, ammunition and training. We are committed to peace and stability in this region, she maintained.