U.S. freezes assets of Pakistan-based Haqqani militants --- (Reuters) - The Obama administration, under pressure from Congress to act against Pakistan-based militants blamed for fueling violence in Afghanistan, moved on Wednesday to freeze the assets of three suspected militants linked to the hard-line -- The Treasury Department said that Saidullah Jan, Yahya Haqqani and Muhammad Omar Zadran had been named "specially designated global terrorists," meaning that assets belonging to the men within U.S. jurisdiction would be frozen. -- U.S. citizens are also barred from doing business with the three men. -- The Obama administration has been struggling to contain the Haqqani network, which it blamed for involvement in a number of bold, high-profile attacks on U.S. and Western interests in Afghanistan, for years. -- The group is believed to be based in tribal regions of Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. --- In 2011, the United States' former top military official, Mike Mullen, made waves by calling the group a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's powerful intelligence service, ISI. In September 2012, the State Department officially designated the group as a "foreign terrorist organization." - More, Missy Ryan, at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-usa-militants-idUSBREA141ZD20140205