White House gets more time to assess billions in frozen Afghan funds

Gulf Today Report

A US judge on Friday gave the Biden administration more time to decide what should be done with about $7 billion of frozen Afghan central bank funds, which some victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks want and which the Taliban claims is theirs.

A federal judge last year extended the department’s deadline to until January 28 to give the Biden administration time to sort through the complex legal and geopolitical issues at play.

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US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan gave the Department of Justice until Feb. 11 to recommend what to do with the funds, which are held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

The freeze in federal reserves has prompted Afghan banks to limit withdrawals, further compounding the cash crisis and driving up the cost of food and consumer goods amid a drought.

An Afghan boy helps in selling bread at a streetside shop.

The funds have been frozen since the Taliban's military takeover in Afghanistan last August. A recommendation on what to do had been expected by Friday.

In a Thursday court filing, the Justice Department requested more time to address the "many complex and important issues" including Sept. 11 victims' claims, diplomacy, and the "still-evolving" situation in Afghanistan.

It said the matters are being fully discussed and "receiving urgent attention at the highest levels of government."

Some Sept. 11 victims and their families are seeking to cover unsatisfied court judgments related to the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

One group, the Havlish plaintiffs, won court permission in September to serve the New York Fed a so-called writ of execution to seize the $7 billion and cover an October 2012 court judgment of about the same amount.

The US government is facing pressure from the UN and humanitarian aid groups about the funds.

The White House also faces pressure from the United Nations and humanitarian aid groups not to apply the funds toward court judgments. They would prefer money be used to shore up Afghanistan's central bank, ease the country's liquidity shortfalls, and help address poverty, hunger and other economic distress

Several governments including China, Iran, Pakistan and Russia are also urging the release of frozen Afghan assets, according to Reuters.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a mechanism to free up about $9.5 billion in Afghan reserves frozen worldwide, including in the United States.

US sanctions ban doing financial business with the Taliban. Humanitarian support for the Afghan people is allowed.