Reuters, file
Jalaluddin Haqqani (R), the Taliban's minister for tribal affairs, points to a map of Afghanistan while his son Naziruddin looks on in Islamabad in October, 2001. The Haqqani insurgent group is named after its patriarch and founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was a legendary anti-Soviet mujahideen commander in the 1980s. Back then he was admired by the Americans.
By NBC News' Mushtaq Yusufzai and Waj Khan
Senior members of the Haqqani network said that the United States' designation of the militant group as terrorists could?endanger the life of an American soldier thought to be in their custody and jeopardize peace talks.
"The Obama administration and U.S. military commanders know that their soldier Bowe Bergdahl?is in our possession," a Haqqani commander told NBC News in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location on Friday. ?"He?is in our custody, but his government failed to make any sincere effort for his release, and now this new development could add to his woes."
AFP - Getty Images
This image grab from an undated video reportedly posted on the internet by Afghan militants on Dec. 25, 2009, allegedly shows U.S. soldier Bowe Robert Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan around six months previously.
The?Haqqanis, a?Pashtun?tribe with strongholds in southeastern Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan, have been blamed for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and other high-profile assaults in Afghanistan. ?The group is also believed to be holding?U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was?captured in 2009 in Afghanistan?s Paktika province, bordering Pakistan?s South Waziristan.
Members of the network say Bergdahl was handed?over to the Taliban?when a delegation of senior Taliban leaders began peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar in exchange for the top five Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay. After those talks failed, the Taliban sources told NBC News that Bergdahl was returned to the Haqqani network.
Report: US offers Taliban more for captive soldier
On Friday, U.S. officials announced that the Obama administration would formally designate the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization. The move was part of 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. ?
But the move would only undermine the United States' efforts in the region, one of the Haqqani commanders told NBC News.
NYT: White House backs listing Haqqani militant group as terrorists, officials say
"How (will) their talks with the Taliban bring peace to?Afghanistan?when they declared us terrorists?" the commander, who asked to remain anonymous, said. "It would further increase their hardship and they should wait for more losses in the coming days."?
Even as the United States takes down al Qaida leaders, one of the most lethal threats to U.S. troops in Afghanistan is a terror network based in Pakistan that America's outgoing top military leader says is an arm of our so-called ally, Pakistan. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a report to Congress saying the network met criteria for a terrorist designation on Friday, State Department officials told reporters. ?
'Frustrated' dad of kidnapped US soldier takes action
The Obama administration has been trying to coax Afghanistan's fighting groups into peace talks, offering the prospect of a Qatar-based political office for insurgents and even the transfer of several prisoners being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Negotiations have been dormant for months, and the Haqqanis have been among the least interested in talking.
Designation by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization would bring sanctions such as criminal penalties for anyone providing material support to the group and seizure of any assets in the United States.
The Haqqani commanders also told NBC News that they were part of the mainstream Afghan Taliban headed by Mulla Mohammad Omar and declaring them as a terrorist group would make it worse for the United States and its allies in in Afghanistan.
Rachel Maddow reports the breaking news of a video released by the Taliban which they claim is captured U.S. soldier Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl.
"We are fighters of Islam Emirate of Afghanistan led by our supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar," a senior commander said. "Our aim is to expel all the occupying forces from Afghanistan and install a purely Islamic government there."
The Pentagon welcomed the designation of the group as a terrorist group.
"The Haqqani Network represents a significant threat to U.S. national security and we will continue our aggressive military action against this threat," said George Little, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, in a statement. "These new group designations will build on our efforts to degrade the Network's capacity to carry out attacks, including affecting fundraising abilities, targeting them with our military and intelligence resources, and pressing Pakistan to take action."
The United States accuses Pakistan's?intelligence agency of supporting the?Haqqani?network and using it as a proxy in Afghanistan to gain leverage against the growing influence of its archrival, India.
Pakistan denies the allegations.
Photos: Pakistan -- A nation in turmoil
A senior Pakistani foreign ministry official, who asked to remain nameless because of the sensitivity of the issue, both denied claims that Pakistan was working with the network and dismissed the designation.?
"If we are sponsoring the Haqqanis, which we are not because they cause more problems for Pakistan than anyone else, then only will this new labeling equate to something," he told NBC News. "No responsible person has proven that we are directing them in any way.?Obviously there are contacts, but the U.S. has contacts for the purposes of negotiations, etc. too with these guys."
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