Levin urges strong U.S. action in Pakistan

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The United States should threaten to end ties with Pakistan if it maintains support of extremist groups attacking U.S. forces, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said.

Levin said Friday evidence indicated there was "direct support" between Pakistan's intelligence agency and the Haqqani network, The Hill reported.

The Haqqani network is an Islamic extremist group operating primarily out of Pakistan's northwest region and has mounted attacks on U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

"Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar recently said that if the United States persists in allegations about the [Pakistani intelligence service]-Haqqani connection, the United States 'will lose an ally,'" Levin, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said in a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations.

If Pakistan maintains that the United States must choose between losing an ally or losing troops, "we will choose the former," Levin said.

"We should inform Pakistan that it should not expect to normalize its relationship with the United States so long as it provides safe haven for violent extremist groups or uses terrorists as proxies to weaken other countries or bully them into acceding to Pakistan's demands," Levin said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced similar sentiments during a visit with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad.

Levin also said the Haqqani network should be listed on the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organization list.

"It is long past time for the United States to call the Haqqani network for what it is" and add the group to the list, Levin said.