Report: U.S. Weighs Terror Label for Haqqanis

The United States is considering declaring the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based ally of al-Qaida and the Taliban, a terrorist organization, The New York Times reported late Friday.

Citing unnamed current and former administration officials, the newspaper said a terror designation would help curb the group's fundraising activities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, and pressure Pakistan to undertake military action against the insurgents.

Senior military officers like General John Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, and many top counterterrorism officials are pushing for the designation, which President Barack Obama's administration has ben debating for nearly two years, according to the paper.

But it said no final decision has been made amid a fierce internal debate in the administration ahead of a congressional deadline looming in September.

Opponents, including some in the White House, were said to worry about the serious consequences such a move could have on already shaky ties with Pakistan and peace talks with the Taliban.

The move could also bring Pakistan closer to being designated a state sponsor of terror shortly after the country reopened critical NATO supply routes through its territory.

"The optics of designating look great, and the chest-thumping is an understandable expression of sentiment, but everyone has to calm down and say, 'What does it actually do?'" an administration official involved in the debate told the Times.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also cited as saying that she would meet Congress's September 9 deadline, though she declined to discuss the debate.

"I'd like to underscore that we are putting steady pressure on the Haqqanis," she said. "That is part of what our military does every day."

The Haqqani network is a faction of the Afghan Taliban whose leaders are based in neighboring Pakistan, where Islamabad has come under immense U.S. pressure to wage an offensive against the group.

The network has been blamed for a series of well-coordinated, commando-style raids on the Afghan capital targeting foreign embassies, NATO bases and government buildings.