US House to take up Haqqani bill
18 July 2012 1:29 AM GMT
A bill dubbing the Pakistan-based dreaded Haqqani network the ‘most dangerous’ Afghan insurgent group’ and seeking its designation as a foreign terrorist organisation is set to be taken up by the US House of Representatives.
The Haqqani network is believed to be responsible for a number of terrorist attacks against US facilities inside Afghanistan.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the Haqqani Network Terrorist Designation Act of 2011 would be considered by lawmakers on the House floor on Tuesday.
The proposed legislation says that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should declare the Haqqani network a Foreign Terrorist Organisation [FTO].
Last year, Clinton had announced the State Department was working on designation of the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organisation.
A number of its leaders have already been slapped with sanctions.
A State Department official on Monday said the foreign terrorist organisation designation of the Haqqani network would still take some time.
‘I don’t have anything specific for you on the pending legislation other than to say you know that we have designated a large range of the top leadership of this network, and they feel the full brunt and force of US sanctions. We continue to review the wider designation issue and we’ll apply all applicable laws as we review that,’ State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
According to the proposed legislation, a report of the Congressional Research Service on relations between the US and Pakistan states that ‘the terrorist network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, based in the FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Area], is commonly identified as the most dangerous of Afghan insurgent groups battling US-led forces in eastern Afghanistan.’
The report further states that, in mid-2011, the Haqqanis undertook several high-visibility attacks in Afghanistan.
The Haqqani network is believed to be responsible for a number of terrorist attacks against US facilities inside Afghanistan.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the Haqqani Network Terrorist Designation Act of 2011 would be considered by lawmakers on the House floor on Tuesday.
The proposed legislation says that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should declare the Haqqani network a Foreign Terrorist Organisation [FTO].
Last year, Clinton had announced the State Department was working on designation of the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organisation.
A number of its leaders have already been slapped with sanctions.
A State Department official on Monday said the foreign terrorist organisation designation of the Haqqani network would still take some time.
‘I don’t have anything specific for you on the pending legislation other than to say you know that we have designated a large range of the top leadership of this network, and they feel the full brunt and force of US sanctions. We continue to review the wider designation issue and we’ll apply all applicable laws as we review that,’ State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
According to the proposed legislation, a report of the Congressional Research Service on relations between the US and Pakistan states that ‘the terrorist network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, based in the FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Area], is commonly identified as the most dangerous of Afghan insurgent groups battling US-led forces in eastern Afghanistan.’
The report further states that, in mid-2011, the Haqqanis undertook several high-visibility attacks in Afghanistan.
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