Washington: The Biden administration has ruled out releasing $3.5 billion in funds held in the US back to Afghanistan’s central bank anytime soon, following the discovery that al-Qaida’s leader had taken refuge in Kabul apparently with the protection of the Taliban government. The position on the funds was outlined on the anniversary of the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban militia and just over two weeks after an American drone strike killed Ayman al-Zawahri, the Qaida leader, on the balcony of a house tied to a faction of the Taliban coalition in an enclave of the Afghan capital.
Thomas West, the US government’s special representative for Afghanistan said “We do not see recapitalisation of the DAB as a near-term option, added that US officials have engaged for months with the central bank about how to shore up Afghanistan’s economy but have not secured persuasive guarantees that the money would not fall into terrorist hands.
“We do not have confidence that that institution has the safeguards and monitoring in place to manage assets responsibly,” West said in a statement. “And needless to say, the Taliban’s sheltering of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri reinforces deep concerns we have regarding diversion of funds to terrorist groups.”
Ned Price, the state department spokesman, said the administration was searching for alternative ways to use the money to help Afghans at a time when millions are afflicted by a growing hunger crisis. The issue of the frozen money remains one of the most sensitive questions a year after President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw the last US troops from Afghanistan, leading to the fall of the Western backed government and the return of Taliban to power.
