Ajit Karn
Kabul: The Taliban asked Washington on Wednesday to return $3.5 billion that belongs to Afghanistan’s central bank. This came after a federal judge in New York said that the families of 9/11 victims can’t take the money.
Soon after the Taliban stormed back to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the U.S. took control of the assets. President Joe Biden said the money could be given to the families of 9/11 victims.
Several years ago, a group of families sued the Taliban for their losses and won. Now, they are trying to take the money to pay off the money they won in court.
But Judge George Daniels of New York’s Southern District said on Tuesday that the federal courts don’t have the power to take the money from Afghanistan’s central bank.
“The Judgment Creditors have the right to collect on their default judgements and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in our country’s history,” Daniels wrote in a 30-page opinion. “However, they cannot do this with the money from the central bank of Afghanistan.”
“The Taliban must pay for their part in the 9/11 attacks, not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people.”
Judge Daniels also said that he was “constitutionally prevented” from giving the assets to the families because that would be the same as recognising the Taliban as Afghanistan’s real government.
So far, no country has recognised the government of the Taliban. This includes the United States.
“The main conclusion is that neither the Taliban nor the Judgment Creditors have the right to take money from the state of Afghanistan to pay the Taliban’s debts,” the report said.
‘No excuse’
The Taliban leaders were happy with the court’s decision.
“Afghanistan owns these things. There’s no reason to keep them frozen or not give them back to the people of Afghanistan “Bilal Karimi, the government’s second-in-charge spokesman, told AFP.
“They have to be given back without any conditions.”
Judge Daniels’ decision, which goes along with what another judge suggested last year, is bad news for the families of 9/11 victims and for insurance companies that paid out money because of the attacks.
Four hijacked planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and a field in Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,900 people.
In response, George W. Bush, who was president at the time, sent troops into Afghanistan. This led to a war between the government backed by the US and the Taliban that lasted for 20 years.
When US-led forces left Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban took over and put back in place their basic version of Islamic law.
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Almost all of the country’s money came from outside sources. Since Washington froze $7 billion in Afghan assets, the country’s economy has been on the verge of collapse.
In February 2022, President Biden laid out a plan to give half of the money to Afghanistan and the other half to the families of people who died in the 9/11 attacks.
But it’s still not clear what will happen to the other $3.5 billion set aside for the families if the appeals fail.
