Key US senator says Haqqani should be on terror list

WASHINGTON: A top US senator pressed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday to add the militant Haqqani network to a formal terrorism blacklist, citing recent attacks in Afghanistan.

“I request that the State Department take the additional step of listing the network as a Foreign Terrorism Organization and look forward to receiving your response,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein.Feinstein, a Democrat, said “there is no question that the Haqqani network meets the standards” for joining the listThe Haqqani network is probably the most dangerous faction in the Afghan Taliban. A CIA asset turned al Qaeda ally, the United States in the 1980s funneled arms and cash to the Haqqani faction to counter Soviet forces.