Activists, tribal reps want Afghanistan reserves unfrozen

KABUL (Pajhwok): A number of civil society activists and tribal representatives on Sunday called on the US government to release frozen assets of Afghanistan.

SaifRahman Pashtun, a civil society activist, told a press conference here, that the money frozen in the US belonged to the Afghan people and not to any government.

He added that the Afghan people have always been victim of war and have never started any conflict in the world.

“The world knows that Afghans were not involved in 9/11 attack as the incident took place thousands of kilometers away from Afghanistan”, he said.

Pashtun said that the Afghan people were not happy about the incident, so their money should not be frozen under such an excuse.

He added that the blockade of Afghanistan assets has severely damaged the banking system, the economy and infrastructure of the country.

“Honestly hand over this deposit to the Da Afghanistan Bank,” he said.

ZahidRahmanZakhilwal, another civil society activist, called on the US not to lock the rights of the Afghan people.

"The purpose of our meeting today is to share our problems with the world," he added.

Afghanistan historically has good relations with the world and the region and if someone looks into the history, Afghans have not attacked any country and neighbors, he said.

He added that the world powers and Afghanistan neighbors interfered in the war-torn country and created problems for the Afghan people.

The US government has frozen $9.5 billion in assets of Afghanistan after the fall of the previous Afghan administration, a move that drew national and international reaction.

mds/ma