Latest News
Sept. 11 victims cannot seize Afghan central bank assets: US judge
A US judge decided on Tuesday that victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are not entitled to seize $3.5 billion of assets belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank to satisfy court judgments they obtained against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Reuters reported.
US District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan said he was “constitutionally restrained” from finding that the IEA was Afghanistan’s legitimate government, a precursor for attaching assets belonging to Da Afghanistan Bank, or DAB.
Daniels said letting victims seize those assets would amount to a ruling that the IEA are Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
He said US courts lack power to reach that conclusion, noting that Biden administration does not recognize the IEA as Afghanistan’s government, read the report.
“The judgment creditors are entitled to collect on their default judgments and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history, but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank of Afghanistan,” Daniels wrote.
“The Taliban [Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan] – not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people – must pay for the IEA’s liability in the 9/11 attacks,” he added.
Daniels’ decision is a defeat for four groups of judgment creditors that claimed some of the $7 billion of DAB funds that had been frozen at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, Reuters reported.
“This decision deprives over 10,000 members of the 9/11 community of their right to collect compensation from the Taliban [IEA],” said Lee Wolosky, a lawyer for one creditor group known as the Havlish plaintiffs. “We believe it is wrongly decided and will appeal.”
The other creditor groups are also planning an appeal, a separate Tuesday court filing shows, read the report.
In an executive order last February, US President Joe Biden ordered $3.5 billion of the DAB funds set aside to benefit the Afghan people.
Last September, the US Treasury said it would move that money to a Swiss-based trust beyond the IEA’s reach.
NOT THE IEA’S MONEY
The creditor groups had sued many defendants, including al-Qaeda, over the Sept. 11 attacks, and obtained default judgments after the defendants failed to show up in court, Reuters reported.
At the time of the attacks, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) had allowed al-Qaeda to operate within Afghanistan.
The United States ousted the IEA and al-Qaeda in late 2001, but the IEA returned to power in 2021 when Western forces pulled out of the country.
In his 30-page decision, Daniels adopted findings of US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, who last August also recommended no recovery for the creditor groups.
Daniels said he lacked jurisdiction over DAB under federal law because the bank was an instrumentality of a foreign government and thus had immunity.
He also said Afghanistan, as opposed to the IEA, neither qualified as a “terrorist party” nor had been designated a state sponsor of terrorism, read the report.
“Neither the Taliban [IEA] nor the judgment creditors are entitled to raid the coffers of the state of Afghanistan to pay the Taliban’s debts,” Daniels wrote.
Other countries recently held about $2 billion of Afghan reserves, Reuters reported.
Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, when planes were flown into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon in northern Virginia, and a Pennsylvania field.
US sanctions ban doing financial business with the IEA but allow humanitarian support for the Afghan people.
The case is in re Terrorist Attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 03-md-01570, Reuters reported.
Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Afghanistan tomorrow (Tuesday), officials said on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport said that a Turkish Airlines plane will land in Kabul airport on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow, Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Kabul International Airport. There will be four flights between Kabul and Istanbul per week. This is good news for Afghan travelers. For those Afghans who travel to European countries, they can move easily through Turkey,” said Imamuddin Ahmadi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Transport.
However, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment emphasized that visas should be provided to businessmen and citizens of the country, otherwise companies will benefit the most, not Afghan citizens and businessmen.
“Not a single passenger is allowed, the reason is that they do not issue visas. If the Turks don’t start issuing visas, or the Arabs don’t issue visas, the plane will come for the cargo and there will be little movement of people,” said Khanjan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment.
In a meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister said the Islamic Emirate will participate in the third Doha meeting if its “position” is accepted.
He said that Afghanistan is under the complete control of the Islamic Emirate and that the country “has an Emir” and the government is “obeyed”.
According to a statement issued by Mawlavi Abdul Kabir’s office, the deputy prime minister told DiCarlo: “The previous meeting in Doha was incomplete due to some shortcomings of its organizers, and the position of the Islamic Emirate should be accepted in the next meeting so that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate in it.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations once expressed regret for the Islamic Emirate’s non-participation in the Doha meeting, but at the same time said that accepting the demands of the Islamic Emirate is equivalent to its recognition.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate is asking the United Nations and other countries to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate has fulfilled all its obligations and “rules over the entire geography of Afghanistan… There is a central government in all of Afghanistan that has an emir and is obeyed.”
The United Nations is expected to hold the third Doha meeting with the participation of special representatives of countries for Afghanistan, but it has not set a date for it yet.
The Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations meanwhile visited Kabul this week and invited the Islamic Emirate’s officials to participate in the Doha meeting.
According to the deputy prime minister’s office, DiCarlo informed Kabir about the Doha meeting and said that “the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participating in this meeting are not difficult.”
She expressed hope that a delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate.
She said that representatives of a number of international organizations and countries have been invited to the Doha meeting, including the World Bank.
Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai, and the country’s former CEO Abdullah Abdullah met with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs this weekend, regarding the third Doha meeting.
In a statement issued by Karzai’s office, it is stated that during the meeting they emphasized the need to help and support the people of Afghanistan and said that they considered education in Afghanistan essential.
They also emphasized the need for national understanding to achieve peace.
DiCarlo, who is on a trip to Kabul, has already met and discussed numerous issues with a number of officials of the Islamic Emirate.
Tahawol: Iranian president’s death discussed
Saar: Upcoming UN Doha meeting on Afghanistan discussed
Turkish Airlines to resume flights to Afghanistan from Tuesday
Kabir tells UN official IEA will attend Doha meeting if its ‘position is accepted’
UN’s DiCarlo meets with Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah over Doha meeting
Afghanistan announce T20 World Cup 2024 squad
Rashid Khan named AWCC’s brand ambassador
New Zealand to go ahead with Afghanistan cricket Test
Afghanistan beat Iraq 5-3, inch closer to Futsal World Cup berth
Afghanistan qualify for FIFA Futsal World Cup for first time ever
Tahawol: Iranian president’s death discussed
Saar: Upcoming UN Doha meeting on Afghanistan discussed
Tahawol: Concerns over spread of floods in the country discussed
Tahawol: Killing of 3 foreign tourists in Bamyan province
Saar: Efforts to solve Afghanistan’s political issue discussed
-
World5 days agoEU adds Russian media outlets to sanctions list despite Kremlin warning
-
Latest News5 days agoTorkham crossing closes temporarily to travelers
-
Sport5 days agoSorkh Poshan Khafi and Sarsabz Yashlar win in ACL matches
-
Latest News4 days agoJapan pledges emergency aid to Afghanistan’s flood victims
-
Business4 days agoAzizi meets with head of Tatarstan on sidelines of Kazan Forum
-
Sport3 days agoT20 World Cup warm-up match schedule released, Afghanistan to face Oman and Scotland
-
Sport2 days agoRashid Khan returns home, officially introduced as AWCC’s brand ambassador
-
Latest News3 days agoGunmen kill three foreigners in Bamyan