US Cong votes for designating Haqqani network as terror group

Washington, Jul 28: The US Senate has unanimously passed a resolution urging the Obama Administration to designate the dreaded Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organisation.

The resolution comes after the US House of Representatives passed Haqqani Network Terrorist Designation Act of 2012 early this month. The bill, which was passed last year, had to be passed by the Senate again because of the changes made in it by the House.

After Senate's latest decision to pass the amended House version by unanimous consent, the bill now heads to the White House for President Barack Obama's consent to make it a law. The bill requires the State Department to decide within a month whether the Haqqani Network meets the criteria for the designation, in the absence of which the Pakistan-based terror outfit can raise funds in the US.

"This is a significant development, the House and the Senate have now spoken unanimously that the President should designate the Haqqani Network as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation," said Congressman Mike Rogers, Chairman of Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

"The Haqqanis are engaged in a reign of terror in Afghanistan and the network poses the single largest threat for IED's our soldiers face in that country. They actively plot and kill US and allied soldiers and routinely harm innocent Afghan civilian men, women and children in their path," he said.

PTI