US to designate Haqqani network as terrorists

FILE- In this Aug. 22, 1998, file photo, Jalaluddin Haqqani, founder of the militant group the Haqqani network, speaks during an interview in Miram Shah, Pakistan. The Obama administration faces a weekend deadline to decide whether the Pakistan-based Haqqani network should be declared a terrorist organization, a complicated political decision as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan and pushes for a reconciliation pact to end more than a decade of warfare. (AP Photo/Mohammed Riaz, File)

By Matthew Lee and Bradley Klapper

Associated Press / September 7, 2012

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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia—The Obama administration will formally designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization in a complicated political decision as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan and pushes for a reconciliation pact to end more than a decade of warfare.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a report to Congress Friday morning stating that the Taliban subsidiary meets "the statutory criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization", just before leaving Brunei for regional meetings in Russia. U.S. officials say the designation will take effect in seven to 10 days.

Enraged by a string of high-profile attacks on U.S. and NATO troops, Congress gave Clinton a Sunday deadline to deliver her report. Clinton's decision comes amid numerous disagreements within the administration about the utility of the designation.