US House calls for putting Haqqanis on terror list

Approves a bill that refers to Haqqani network as ‘the most dangerous insurgent groups’.

WASHINGTON:

The US House of Representa­tives on Wednesday urged the State Department to designate the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist group, pressing the Obama administration to get tough on an issue that already has strained ties with Islamabad.

On a voice vote, lawmakers approved a bill that referred to the Haqqani network as “the most dangerous of Afghan insurgent groups battling US-led forces in eastern Afghanistan”.

The bill passed by the House would require a report from the State Department on whether the Haqqani network meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist group – and if not, why not.

That legislative language has already passed the Senate. But the House added a couple of sentences saying that lawmakers believe the network does meet the criteria, and urging the secretary of state to put the Haqqani network on the list of foreign terrorists.  Washington wants Islamabad to bring the Haqqani network to the negotiating table. At the same time, it has been wary of exerting too much pressure on Pakistan over the matter and further straining bilateral ties.

Interestingly, the bill also said that “nothing in this act may be construed to infringe upon the sovereignty of Pakistan to combat militant or terrorist groups operating inside the boundaries of Pakistan.”

US officials have accused the Haqqanis of high-profile strikes, including an attack on the US embassy in Kabul in September and an earlier truck bombing that wounded dozens of US troops. Despite those accusations, the group is not on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations.

If designated as a terrorist outfit, the Haqqanis would be slapped with sanctions such as criminal penalties for anyone providing material support to the group and seizure of any assets in the United States.

The reason the network has not been placed on the list, US officials say, is that some State Department officials hope the Haqqanis could be brought off the battlefield as part of the Afghan peace process.

It was unclear when the amended bill would be brought up in the Senate, but it has support from some key lawmakers, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin.

“The Haqqanis have killed so many of our people. And it’s all in terrorist attacks,” said Feinstein, a Democrat.

The Haqqani network, which is allegedly based in North Waziristan Agency, is named after aging militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani. He was among the mujahideen leaders that fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and his group received CIA backing then.

(Additional input from Reuters)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2012.