Afghan caretaker gov’t welcomes UN chief’s call to lift the ban on assets

KABUL, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — The chief spokesman of the Taliban caretaker government on Friday welcomed remarks of the UN chief calling on the United States to lift a ban on Afghan assets.

“We appreciate the UN Secretary General’s call for the release of Afghan capital from the United States,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter.

The Afghan economy after the Taliban’s takeover of power in mid-August has suffered from the U.S. freezing of over 9 billion U.S. dollars in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank as well as a halt in funds by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

On Thursday, UN chief Guterres urged the United States and the World Bank to unfreeze Afghan funds to prevent “the nightmare unfolding in Afghanistan” from getting worse.

Mujahid noted that such a position would benefit the UN’s impartiality and the prestige of this important international organization on the rights of nations. The United States must respond positively to the international voice and release frozen Afghan assets.

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