DURHAM, N.C. - A proposed multibillion-dollar U.S. aid package to Pakistan may be perceived as a source of American meddling and a potential source of hostility toward the U.S., cautions an Islamic Studies professor at Duke University.

Ebrahim Moosa, who was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2005 to study Islamic religious schools -- or madrasas -- in South Asia, says directing aid to the military only fuels hostility toward the United States, whereas publicly advertising U.S. aid to civilian projects can have the opposite effect.

"Increased U.S. aid to Pakistan must be targeted at the vital structures of the country: poverty alleviation, education, health and sanitation, women's health and improving the country's internal security against terrorist attacks," he says.

"Much of the aid in the past has been directed at the Pakistani military, vital as it might be as an ally, but it does not bring America's aid to the ground level of where the population experiences hardship."

The aid bill announced last week, which awaits President Obama's signature, would provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion a year over the next five years to spend on democratic, economic and social development programs. It also allows "such sums as may be necessary" for military aid, subject to special conditions related to its fight against militants.

U.S. officials say the bill's broad goal is to alleviate widespread poverty among the 175 million Pakistanis, lessening the allure of Taliban and other Islamist extremists who have wreaked havoc in the country and across the border in Afghanistan.

But on Wednesday, Pakistan's military expressed "serious concern" about the aid package.