MONITORING (SW) – Afghanistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations has issued a statement saying it has filed a amicus brief in a New York state court to protect the $ multi-billion dollars of Afghanistan’s state reserves.
Naseer Ahmad Faiq, the Charge’ d’Affaires of Afghanistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said the brief was presented to represent the Afghan people who are the real owners of the assets.
A statement issued by the mission stressed that these assets belong to the citizens of Afghanistan and that no Afghan nationals were involved in the 9/11 attacks and that Afghans have no moral or legal responsibility towards the 9/11 victims. According to the statement, the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks deserve justice and compensation, but the Afghan people should not be the victims of this compensation.
The Afghan delegation added that the people of this country share in the grief of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but at the same time they have been victims of terrorist groups for decades.
“Al-Qaeda terrorist groups, the Taliban and their allies have targeted tens of thousands of Afghans over the past 20 years and are still victims of terrorist attacks, including last week on schools, mosques and religious minorities,” the statement said.
Afghanistan’s representative to the United Nations has said that its citizens are in the greatest humanitarian crisis and that more than half of the population is suffering from severe hunger. He expressed hope that Afghanistan’s assets would be protected and used only for the benefit of the people in dire humanitarian conditions.
Following the rise of the Islamic Emirate to power in Afghanistan, the United States froze $ 7 billion in Afghan assets held in that country. President Joe Biden’s government issued a decree in February stating that half of the $ 7 billion in assets would be paid as compensation to the families of 9/11 victims. The implementation of this decree is subject to the decision of the court.
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