US mulling to include Pak-based groups Haqqani, Taliban as terror outfits

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jul 15 (PTI) Under pressure from key lawmakers
and top military commanders, US is considering designating
several Pakistani-based militant groups including the Haqqani
network and the Pakistani Taliban as terrorist outfits.
Topping the list of the groups to be labelled as Foreign
Terrorist Organisation (FTO) is the Pakistani Taliban or the
Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Haqqani network State
Department spokesman P J Crowley said Wednesday.
Crowley however refrained from giving any time line as
to when the sanctions on these organisations would be slapped
so that overseas travel and financial restrictions could be
imposed on them.
"We are evaluating a number of entities in Pakistan.
There's a legal process and legal criteria that has to be met.
This is something that we're looking into. We'll make a
determination one way or the other when we're finished,"
Crowley said.
Responding to question about the demand being made by
Senators Carl Levin and Jack Reed that TTP and Haqqani network
be designated as a FTO, Crowley said nothing is holding the
State Department from doing so, except for the legalities
involved.
Levin had described the Haqqani group as the "greatest
threat" to Afghanistan and also advocated drone strikes
against them. The new American military commander in
Afghanistan David H Petraeus is also reported to have pushed
for labelling the Haqqani network as terrorists.
"Obviously there is an impact on any group that is
designated as a FTO. It has very definite financial and legal
implications. It's one of the reasons why there's a deliberate
process involved," Crowley said.
"Whether you're talking about the Haqqani network,
whether you're talking about the Pakistani Taliban or any
group anywhere in the world, we take this responsibility
seriously. We designate individuals and groups on an ongoing
basis," he said.
"We have evaluated these groups for quite some time. We
evaluate not only in terms of what they've done, the threat
they represent to the US and, you know, the prospective, you
know, policy impact that this has. So if the question is, are
we looking into the Haqqani Network, we are. Have we reached a
determination yet? We have not," he said.
Explaining the possible reasons for the delay in
declaring these outfits as FTO, Crowley said these steps have
to be carefully evaluated and documents because it does have
financial and legal consequences. "Frequently we could be
subject to a lawsuit. So we would have to defend a decision
that we've made in these designations," he said.
"We want to make sure that you have done your due
diligence and you can actually defend the decision that is
made. We also make sure that any action that we take actually
supports our broader strategy. And we understand the impact
that that designation would have on the ground, in either
Pakistan or Afghanistan," Crowley said.
"So these are all things that we take into account when
we evaluate steps like this," Crowley said in response to a
question. PTI