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Swiss-based trust fund for frozen Afghan assets meets in Geneva
The board of a Swiss-based trust fund managing some $3.5 billion in frozen assets seized after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan(IEA) took power last year is meeting in Geneva for the first time on Monday, a Swiss government spokesperson confirmed.
The frozen central bank reserves were recently transferred from Washington into the ‘Fund for the Afghan People’ where US officials say it will be shielded from the IEA. The latter has condemned the transfer, calling it a violation of international norms.
The agenda of the meeting is not yet public.
The fund’s statutes says its purpose is to “receive, protect, preserve and disburse assets for the benefit of the Afghan people”. But how and when the four-member board will disburse the money remains to be decided, Reuters reported.
After decades of war and drought, half of Afghanistan’s population, or 24 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance according to the United Nations.
However, a full-scale transfer back to Afghanistan’s central bank, known as DAB, is seen as all but impossible with a top official who is under both US and UN sanctions.
The Swiss fund’s statutes indicate that disbursements will be for macroeconomic purposes, such as foreign exchange rate and price stabilization.
The $3.5 billion forms part of an original $7 billion being held in the United States following the IEA takeover in August 2021. The other half is being contested in lawsuits against the IEA stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Trustees include Swiss foreign ministry official Alexandra Baumann, U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller, Anwar Ahady, a former Afghan central bank chief and former finance minister, and Shah Mehrabi, a U.S. academic who remains on the DAB Supreme Council.
Eleven people have been killed in a shooting at a shrine in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province, local sources said on Friday.
The incident took place at 9 pm on Thursday at the shrine of Sayed Padsha Jan in Shahr-e-Kuhna of Nahrin district.
A local resident said the dead were residents of Nahrin district and wanted to spend the night at the shrine.
Asadullah Mustafa Hashemi, the provincial information and culture director, confirmed the incident but did not provide details on how it happened or the number of casualties.
Provincial police spokesman said they had not received any information about the incident yet.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Serdar Muhammetdurdiyev on Thursday met with Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan announced.
During the meeting, the sides discussed priority vectors of strategic interstate cooperation built on a long-term, mutually beneficial basis, as well as exchanged views on the implementation of previously reached agreements.
It was noted that personal contacts between the leaders of the two countries play a key role in intensifying the interstate dialogue, which give a strong impulse to further development and expansion of Turkmen-Chinese ties.
It was emphasized that Turkmenistan considers multilateral international platforms for maintaining stability in Afghanistan as an important factor in promoting sustainable improvement of socio-economic state of the neighboring country. The sides exchanged views on the preparations to the 5th meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan's Neighboring States to be held in Turkmenistan.
The interlocutors reaffirmed that Turkmenistan and China will continue to provide all-round support for the economic restoration of Afghanistan.
The U.S. House Of Representatives has passed a legislation on evacuation of Afghans who assisted Americans during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.
“The passage of the CARE Authorization Act of 2024 further underscores the commitment made by the U.S. government to safeguard those who served shoulder-to-shoulder with our personnel during the twenty-year mission in Afghanistan,” Congresswoman Dina Titus said in a statement.
“The State Department has made it clear: There is no deadline for the crucial job of protecting Afghan allies. By authorizing the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts at the State Department, we can more effectively relocate and resettle those who have qualified to immigrate to the U.S. as a result of their service to this country.”
In 2022 the State Department established a specialized office called the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) to streamline and coordinate the ongoing relocation and resettlement process for eligible Afghans from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the United States.
The CARE Authorization Act of 2024 will formally authorize the CARE office at the State Department for three years and grant important authorities to advance its mission. These include an extension of authorities to enter into personal services contracts as well as measures to streamline the transfer of funds to and from other agencies involved in the Afghan relocation mission.
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