ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sat­urday added its voice to the chorus of criticism aimed at President Joe Biden’s move to split frozen Afghan funds equally between 9/11 victims and humanitarian relief for the war-ravaged country, saying it was Kabul’s right to decide how to use the money.

“Pakistan’s principled position on the frozen Afghan foreign bank reserves remains that these are owned by the Afghan nation and these should be released. The utilisation of Afghan funds should be the sovereign decision of Afghanistan,” Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar said.

On Friday, President Biden signed an executive order freeing $7 billion in frozen funds to compensate the families of 9/11 victims and meet Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs. The move has been widely criticised, with many likening it to stealing of Afghanistan’s money.

Afghan reserves in overseas banks were frozen after the Taliban took control of the country in August last year. Around $7 billion was in US banks, while the rest was in other countries. Moreover, the international community had then also suspended financial assistance for Afghan­istan, thereby pushing it towards an economic collapse.

Critics say economic crisis caused by draining coffers could trigger bigger catastrophe

The Taliban regime is still not rec­ognised internationally, tho­ugh many countries have begun engaging with it.

Pakistan has been advocating for the release of Afghanistan’s frozen money all along so that the economic crisis facing the country could be addressed.

The FO spokesman said humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan and its economic crisis were “inextricably linked”. He further noted that “finding ways to unfreeze the Afghan foreign reserves urgently would help address the humanitarian and economic needs of the Afghan people.”

He again urged the international community to play “constructive role” in alleviating the sufferings of Afghans and emphasized that “time is of the essence.”

Both Taliban and their opponents came together to criticise Biden’s decision as unjust and unfair.

Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), which is Afghanistan’s Central Bank, said that the reserves held overseas were meant to facilitate international trade and stabilize financial sector and were solely owned by the people of Afghanistan.

“DAB considers the latest decision of USA on blocking FX reserves and allocating them to irrelevant purposes, injustice to the people of Afghanistan and will never accept if the FX reserves of Afghanistan is paid under the name of compensation or humanitarian assistance to others and wants the reversal of the decision and release of all FX reserves of Afghanistan,” it said.

Taliban deputy spokesman Inamullah Samangani, meanwhile, said: “The Islamic Emirate says compensation is an unrelated use for the funds and is unfair.”

Sayed Ishaq Gailani, leader of the National Solidarity Party of Afghanistan, echoing Taliban’s position said: “The money released by Biden was meant for Afghanistan.”

According to Associated Press, Torek Farhadi, a financial adviser to Afghanistan’s former US-backed government, questioned the UN managing Afghan Central Bank reserves. He said those funds are not meant for humanitarian aid but to back up the country’s currency, help in monetary policy and manage the country’s balance of payment.” He also questioned the legality of Biden’s order.

“These reserves belong to the people of Afghanistan, not the Taliban ... Biden’s decision is one-sided and does not match with international law,” said Farhadi adding that no other country can make such confiscation decisions about another country’s reserves.

Human Rights Watch’s John Sifton, according to Afghanistan’s Tolo News, said: “Directing $3.5 billion to humanitarian assistance for Afghans may sound generous, but it should be remembered that the entire $7 billion already legally belonged to the Afghan people.”

“And yet, even if the US gave it to a humanitarian trust fund, current restrictions on Afghanistan’s banking sector make it virtually impossible to send or spend the money inside the country,” he further said.

On the international front, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s former wife and activist Jemima Goldsmith deplored the US government’s action, saying the 9/11 attacks were not linked to Afghanistan in any way.

“This is morally indefensible when Afghan mothers are selling their organs to save their children from starvation. Not a single Afghan was involved in 9/11. The average Afghan wasn’t even alive when that atrocity happened,” she tweeted.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2022