US Might Label Taliban as Foreign Terrorist Group, Rubio Says
The Trump administration is considering designating the Taliban a foreign terrorist organization to pressure the Afghan ruling group to be more helpful in countering terrorist entities within Afghanistan, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said May 21.
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“I believe that classification is now once again under review,” Rubio testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in response to questioning from Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. “We’d like to see more cooperation from them on al-Qaeda and other elements in the country that we’d like to see targeted. So I think that’s part of a toolset the president has as leverage to increase cooperation on their part.”
The 4-month-old administration already has applied the FTO label to several types of groups, including Haitian gangs, the Yemen-based Houthis and Latin America-based cartels (see 2505020026, 2503040008 and 2502190011).
Rubio said the State Department also is looking at whether to impose Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes for his role in the trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting a coup. The potential use of sanctions "is under review right now and it’s a great possibility that will happen,” Rubio told Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who alleged that the trial is part of a crackdown on Brazil’s political opposition.
In other testimony, Rubio said he would help Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., gain Senate approval of his House-passed bill to sanction those who fund, sponsor or otherwise facilitate forced organ harvesting or the trafficking of people to remove their organs (see 2505080041). Rubio worked on the organ harvesting issue while he served in the Senate.
Rubio told Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., that the administration is reviewing whether to “impose costs” on the Republic of Georgia government, which has been accused of democratic backsliding. The House recently passed a Wilson bill that would sanction Georgian officials who undermine democracy (see 2505060054).