Afghan interim government issues statement condemning U.S. occupation of frozen Afghan assets
On the 14th local time, the interim government of Afghanistan issued a statement condemning the decision of US President Biden to use half of the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan to compensate the victims of the “9.11” incident as irresponsible. This is a clear violation of the rights of the Afghan people and the Doha peace agreement, the statement said. The Afghan interim government pointed out that the “9.11” incident has nothing to do with the Afghan people, and any act of occupying the property of the Afghan people under the pretext of this incident is a clear violation of the Doha peace agreement with Afghanistan. The Afghan interim government said that in order to avoid accusations from the international community and not to damage its relations with the Afghan people, the United States must abandon its wrong decision and unconditionally thaw the property of the Afghan people. If the United States does not change its stance and continues its provocative behavior, the Afghan interim government will be forced to reconsider its policy toward the United States.
US President Biden signed an executive order on the 11th, planning to use half of the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan in the United States to compensate the victims of the “9.11” terrorist attack. The Afghan Taliban and people from all walks of life believe that the U.S. government has no right to dispose of these assets. The U.S. practice is extremely immoral. This is an act of extortion and plunder. The U.S. move will bring a fatal and irreversible blow to the Afghan economy.
According to the White House’s statement in response to the executive order, Biden requested that about $7 billion of Afghanistan’s central bank’s assets in the United States be divided equally, half of which will be used as a source of funds to compensate the victims of the “9.11” incident, and the other half will be transferred to An account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to help the “people of Afghanistan”, the assets will not be returned to the Taliban.
Afghans hold demonstrations to protest US looting of Afghan assets
Thousands of people in Kabul demonstrated on February 15 to protest against the US looting of Afghan assets, condemning the US move as open theft.
One of the initiators of the demonstrations, Haji Safi, head of the Afghanistan Money Changers Association, said that demonstrations were held in all major cities in Afghanistan that day. Demonstrators in Kabul displayed slogans such as “The United States has destroyed Afghanistan” and “The United States should return Afghan assets” during the march.
The demonstrators issued a statement saying that the U.S. actions violated international law and demanded that U.S. President Joe Biden cancel the relevant executive order and return the frozen Afghan assets. Demonstrators will continue to protest until the US returns Afghan assets.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova said on the 14th that Russia considers the decision of the United States to be absurd. The relevant military operations in Afghanistan by the United States and its NATO allies have made the current humanitarian situation in Afghanistan very difficult. The United States is actually exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and creating obstacles for the new Afghan government, which is currently trying to restore the normal life of the people.
By Astrid Zhang Lehan
