- Hillary Clinton will decide Friday whether to designate the Haqqanis a Foreign Terror Organization
- A report outlining the Secretary of State's decision will be delivered to Congress, an official says
- The designation makes it easier for the United States to go after those who support the group
- The Haqqani network operates from Pakistan's volatile Waziristan province
(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected Friday to announce whether the Pakistan-based Haqqani network will be formally designated as a terror organization, a senior government official said.
Clinton has until Sunday to meet a congressional deadline to decide whether to designate the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked group as Foreign Terrorist Organization, a move that would make it easier to pursue those who provide support to the network and likely further deteriorate relations with Pakistan.
"The Secretary expects to send the report on the Haqqani network to Congress today," said a senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official was not authorized to offer details of the report ahead of its submission to Congress.
Both houses of Congress have taken up the issue, calling for the Obama administration to add the Haqqani network to the State Department's terror organization list.
Clinton is likely to take some step against the group, which has been tied to the deaths of American and NATO troops, and multiple attacks on embassies and other government infrastructure in Afghanistan.
The question is whether Clinton will designate the Haqqani Network a Foreign Terror Organization or find that the militant group meets the State Department definition of an FTO but reserve judgment until a later time.
A Foreign Terror Organization label allows the United States to freeze the Haqqani network's assets that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction, prosecute those who aid or assist the group with material and financial support.
In the past, the Obama administration had resisted listing the entire group out of concern that it would drive the Haqqanis away from a possible peace deal in Afghanistan. The group, with its links to other Taliban entities, was considered integral to the political reconciliation the United States was seeking, senior U.S. officials have told CNN.
Founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani in the wake of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the group initially worked with the United States and its allies to expel the Soviets. Since suffering a stroke in 2005, Jalaluddin has essentially retired and his son, Sirajuddin, has taken command.
Since 2001, global security experts have said the Haqqani Network's calling card has been bold and complex suicide bombing attacks.
From their base in Pakistan's Waziristan province, the militant group has drawn the ire of the U.S. government with members of its top leadership already being designated as terrorists - which freezes any personal assets of theirs held in U.S. banks.
U.S. officials also have said the group has ties to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, the country's main intelligence agency. The former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, described the Haqqani network as a "veritable arm" of the Pakistani intelligence agency.
Pakistan has vehemently denied ties to the group, though the Pentagon has repeatedly said it has not done enough to combat the militant group.
The designation by the State Department of Haqqani comes at a critical time for the United States as combat operations in Afghanistan come to a close in 2014 and it looks to withdraw in some cases through Pakistan.
The move also raises questions about the fate of suspected Haqqani captives, including Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl who was believed to have been captured in June 2009 by Haqqani loyalists in eastern Afghanistan.
The Haqqani network receives funding from the Taliban, though a significant portion of its money is said to come from deep-pocketed donors in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to a recent report by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, New York.
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