Afghan ex-president protests against US order to unfreeze US$3.5bn for 9/11 victims

Afghanistan’s former president on Sunday called a White House order to unfreeze US$3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the US for families of September 11 victims an atrocity against the Afghan people.

Bin Laden was brought to Afghanistan by Afghan warlords after being expelled from Sudan in 1996. Those same warlords would later ally with the US-led coalition to oust the Taliban in 2001. However, it was Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar who refused to hand over bin Laden to the US after the devastating 2001 attacks that killed thousands.

“The people of Afghanistan share the pain of the American people, share the pain of the families and loved ones of those who died, who lost their lives in the tragedy of September 11,” said Karzai. “We commiserate with them (but) Afghan people are as much victims as those families who lost their lives. … Withholding money or seizing money from the people of Afghanistan in their name is unjust and unfair and an atrocity against Afghan people.”

Biden’s order signed last Friday freed US$7 billion in Afghan assets currently held in the United States, to be divided between September 11 victims and humanitarian aid to Afghans.

September 11 victims and their families have legal claims against the Taliban and the US$7 billion in the US banking system. The US$3.5 billion was set aside for a US court to decide whether it can be used to settle claims by families of September 11 victims. US courts would also have to sign off before the release of money for humanitarian help.

We “ask the US courts to do the opposite, to return the Afghan money back to the Afghan people,” said Karzai. “This money does not belong to any government … this money belongs to the people of Afghanistan.”