Defense spending ranks high in the government's priorities. Although it was budgeted to decline fractionally in real terms during 1993╨1994, it still accounts for more than one-third of current spending. The USA was the main arms supplier, until the severance of aid payments in 1990. The main procurement is now from France, the UK and China, although the likelihood is that supplies from the USA will resume in the future. The army plays a major role in public life; in 1993, army chief Abdul Waheed forced the prime minister and president out of office. The army also provides covert support to Islamic fundamentalist "mujahideen" across the border in Afghanistan.
