``It gives me pleasure to inform you that the F-16 matter has now been amicably and to our satisfaction, resolved,'' Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced today after his telephonic talks with US President Bill Clinton last night.

Pakistan had struck a deal with the US in 1989 for purchase of 28 highly sophisticated F-16 fighter aircraft for a total cost of more than 650 million US dollars.

But the US refused to deliver the planes and kept the money following the Pressler Amendment which prohibited arms sale to Pakistan due to its ``clandestine'' nuclear programme. Under the terms of the agreement, Pakistan will receive a total of $466.97 million of which $326.97 million will be paid in cash before the end of December. The balance $140 million will be delivered over the next two years in the formof staple wheat and other purchases, Sharif said.

The figures include a deduction to the US as service charges, Sharif said, adding he did not know if the cash would be used to service Pakistan's foreign debt or to buy alternative aircraft. ``This was only agreed last night. I don't know whether the money will go into the general kitty or will be used to purchase alternative aircraft,'' he said.

DIPLOMATS EXPELLED:

India and Pakistan have expelled one staff member of each other's high commissions in New Delhi and Islamabad on charges of espionage. India first expelled a staff member of the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi on Friday declaring him persona non grata (PNG), reliable sources said here.

Pakistan retaliated by expelling a staff member of the visa section of the Indian high commission here accusing him of indulging in activities incompatible with his official status, an expression used in diplomatic parleys for spying, the sources said. The two expelled staff members at theembassies have been given one week's time to leave the country.

Both the countries, however, are keeping the latest round of expulsion a secret and no official confirmation was available.