US to designate Haqqani network as a terrorist group

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The United States will designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, accused of some high-profile attacks, as a terrorist group, the U.S. State Department said on Friday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed a report to Congress saying the network met criteria for a terrorist designation, the department said.

"Based on that assessment, she will notify Congress that she intends to designate the Haqqani network as an FTO (foreign terrorist organization) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity," a department official said as Clinton attended an APEC summit in Vladivostok, Russia.

The Haqqanis, a Pashtun tribe with strongholds in southeastern Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan, have been blamed for an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul and other high-profile assaults in Afghanistan.

The United States accuses Pakistan's intelligence agency of supporting the Haqqani network and using it as a proxy in Afghanistan to gain leverage against the growing influence of its arch-rival India in the country.

Pakistan denies the allegations.

A senior Pakistani security official said blacklisting the Haqqani network would be counterproductive and put unnecessary pressure on Islamabad, a strategic U.S. ally.

"If the United States wants to have a constructive relationship with Pakistan, then this is a bad move," the official told Reuters. "This will push Pakistan into a corner."

In June, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States was reaching the limits of its patience with Pakistan because of the safe havens that groups like the Haqqanis found there.

Designation by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization would bring sanctions such as criminal penalties for anyone providing material support to the group and seizure of any assets in the United States.

The Obama administration is facing a congressional deadline this weekend to determine whether the network met the criteria for such designation.