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Hundreds protest in Kabul against US decision on Afghan assets
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Kabul on Saturday against the United States’ decision to transfer $3.5 billion of the country’s frozen foreign reserves to a Swiss fund.
The protesters, who gathered in front of the former Afghanistan Human Rights Commission office, chanted anti-US slogans as they blamed the United States for the ongoing humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan.
They called on human rights organizations to press the US to release Afghan assets.
“The $9 billion frozen assets belong to Afghanistan and it should be handed over to Afghanistan,” said Mudasir, a protester.
“By freezing the $9 billion assets, the US is killing the Afghan children economically,” said Lal Aqa Amiri, a protester.
On Wednesday, Washington announced it would transfer $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets into a new trust fund in Switzerland.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) condemned the move as being against international norms.
Meanwhile, China said on Thursday that the US-blocked Afghan foreign reserves should be returned immediately so that Afghanistan could utilize the money independently.
“The frozen assets are life-saving money of Afghan people, which should be returned immediately, disposed of by Afghanistan independently, and used for the improvement of the livelihood and peaceful reconstruction,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said.
Russia also condemned washington’s decision.
“We consider this step to contradict International Law and violate the sovereignty of the foreign state. The people of Afghanistan have the right to independently command assets belonging to them without any external control,” Russian embassy in Washington said on Thursday.
It added that such actions by the United States, “no matter which humanitarian mottos it uses as a smokescreen, will only exacerbate misery of the Afghan people.”
Shahabuddin Delawar, the acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, met with a delegation from the Siberian oil and gas sector in Kabul this week to discuss investment opportunities.
According to the ministry, the visiting Russians expressed interest in investing in Afghanistan oil and gas mines.
In response, Delawar welcomed their interest and stated that the ministry would cooperate with them and provide necessary facilities for their endeavors.
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has ratified the national budget for fiscal year 1403 (solar year) after a “thorough review and consideration.”
This year’s national budget has been meticulously crafted to address the needs and priorities of the people, IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday.
As with the previous year, the budget has been drawn up exclusively using domestic revenues.
The Ministry of Finance will, as always, incorporate the national budget for the fiscal year 1403 into the country’s financial system, Mujahid said.
All associated sectors, both ordinary and developmental, will be managed with full transparency and in accordance with standard procedures, he added.
No further details were given.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, met with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk to discuss trade and investment, it was announced on Friday.
Sergey Pavlov, General Director of Russian Railways, and Dmitry Zverev, Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia, were also present in the meeting, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said in a statement.
According to the statement, the two sides discussed increasing the volume of trade, preferential tariff for Afghan goods, Russian investment in mines and water dams in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan’s role in the International North–South Transport Corridor.
They also discussed about reducing the cost of transportation through the Russian railway, removing the export tax on basic materials, arranging the trip of the delegation to the ports of Astrakhan and Makhachkala, and holding a trade connectivity conference and an expo of Afghan products in Moscow.
Azizi met with the Russian deputy PM on the sidelines of the Kazan Forum – the 15th International Economic Forum of Russia and the Islamic World.
He also met with representatives of a number of Tatarstan and Russia companies and encouraged them to invest in Afghanistan.
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