WASHINGTON (Online): Top US lawmakers have pressed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to put the Afghan militant group Haqqani network on the terror blacklist immediately, citing testimonies by officials that the outfit was an 'arm of the Pakistans military Intelligence. I request that the State Department list the network as a foreign terrorism organisation, said Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Ms Dianne Feinstein. Ms Feinstein in a statement said that the Haqqani network met all the standards of the blacklist as it has been conducting attacks against US targets and personnel in Afghanistan and poses a continuing threat to American, Afghan and allied personnel and interests. Another leading Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee demanded at a Congressional hearing why was there an inordinate delay in designating the network as a terrorist organisation. ....This step is long overdue, Mr Levin said. I hope the State Department will move quickly to designate the Haqqanis as a foreign terrorist organisation, Levin said as he and other lawmakers urged defence secretary, Leon Panetta, and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to take steps to ensure that the Haqqani network is not able to attack Americans. Foremost is the threat posed by the militant extremists launching attacks against Afghan and coalition forces from sanctuaries in Pakistan, particularly the Haqqani group in North Waziristan and the Afghan Taliban shura in Quetta, he said. The sharp comments from the lawmakers came after US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen charged that the Haqqani network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistans military intelligence agency (ISI). Mr Levin, the Chairman of the Committee said that the ability of the network to launch attacks over the border from Pakistan was unacceptable. The top Republican on the committee, Senator John McCain called for slowing down the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to maintain the advantage of the surge of troops last year. The Senator also said that the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani showed that Taliban had no interest in reconciliation.