Taliban and 9/11 Families Fight for Billions in Frozen Afghan Funds

WASHINGTON — Nearly 20 years ago, astir 150 household members of Sept. 11 victims sought a measurement of justice for their losses by suing a database of targets similar Al Qaeda and the Taliban. A decennary later, a tribunal found the defendants liable by default and ordered them to wage damages present worthy astir $7 billion.

But with nary mode to cod it, the judgement seemed symbolic.

Today, however, the Taliban is backmost successful power of Afghanistan. The group’s leaders accidental their country’s cardinal slope relationship astatine the Federal Reserve successful New York, successful which the erstwhile authorities accumulated astir $7 cardinal from overseas assistance and different sources, is rightfully theirs. And that successful crook has raised a question: If the wealth is the Taliban’s, shouldn’t the plaintiffs successful the Sept. 11 suit beryllium entitled to prehend it?

High-level officials successful the Biden medication are present debating the reply to that question, which presents a analyzable knot of nationalist security, legal, diplomatic and governmental problems — the latest illustration of however thorny issues stemming from the violent attacks stay unresolved much than 2 decades later.

Among the specifics to beryllium worked retired is whether and however the United States tin sidestep immoderate ineligible request to admit the Taliban arsenic the morganatic Afghan authorities successful bid to usage the wealth successful the cardinal slope relationship to assistance resoluteness the assertion by the Sept. 11 families.

The medication is scheduled to archer a tribunal by Friday what result would beryllium successful the nationalist interest, adjacent arsenic the United States grapples with broader issues arising from the extremity of the American subject beingness successful Afghanistan. In summation to recognition, they see however to supply humanitarian assistance that mightiness forestall a wide exodus of migrants.

The Justice Department has been negotiating with lawyers for the Sept. 11 plaintiffs astir a imaginable woody to disagreement up the wealth if the authorities supports their effort to prehend it, and the White House’s National Security Council has been moving with agencies crossed the authorities to measurement the proposal, according to radical who described the deliberations connected information of anonymity.

In a statement, 2 of the plaintiffs successful the suit — Fiona Havlish, whose hubby worked connected the 101st level of the South Tower, and Ellen Saracini, whose hubby was a aviator of 1 of the hijacked planes that flew into the World Trade Center — said the medication should assistance their cause.

Any transportation of the Afghan cardinal slope reserves is definite to infuriate the Taliban astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile the West is trying to unit and coax the enactment into behaving otherwise than it did erstwhile it past ran that country, connected matters ranging from respecting women’s rights to refusing to big planetary violent groups. The Taliban person been demanding entree to the funds.

The National Security Council declined to supply a connection for this article, and overmuch remains unclear astir the parameters of what the U.S. authorities tin bash — fto unsocial what determination it volition make, respective radical acquainted with the substance said.

After the Taliban abruptly took subject power of the state successful August, the New York Federal Reserve blocked entree to the Afghan cardinal bank’s account. Under longstanding counterterrorism sanctions imposed connected the Taliban by the U.S., it is amerciable to prosecute successful fiscal transactions with them.

Shortly afterward, lawyers for the families successful the aged default judgement lawsuit persuaded a justice to contented an bid that started the process of transferring the wealth to them to wage disconnected the debt. On Sept. 13, a United States Marshal served the ineligible section of the Federal Reserve of New York with a “writ of execution” to prehend the money.

Further complicating matters, a 2nd radical of plaintiffs successful a smaller lawsuit — brought successful the Northern District of Texas by 7 State Department contractors who were injured successful a 2016 violent onslaught successful Afghanistan — are besides seeking to prehend a information of the funds to wage disconnected a $138 cardinal default judgement against a database of defendants that included the Taliban.

The Justice Department has intervened successful some cases, invoking a power to inject the authorities into immoderate pending litigation and pass the tribunal astir however the United States views its interests. The litigation has been frozen awaiting its statement, tribunal documents show.

Behind the scenes, lawyers for the plaintiffs opened negotiations with the Justice Department. They person projected a woody to disagreement the $7 cardinal among 3 categories of recipients if the Biden medication backs them successful court, the radical acquainted with the substance said.

Under the proposal, the plaintiffs, arsenic holders of the default judgment, would support immoderate of that money, portion redirecting the remainder of it to 2 different purposes.

Some of the remaining wealth would spell to respective 1000 spouses and children of those killed successful the Sept. 11 attacks who were not portion of the lawsuit, and who for method reasons did not person definite payments from a compensation money for victims of coercion acceptable up by Congress.

The different information would beryllium donated to assorted organizations that execute humanitarian enactment — similar providing lifesaving nutrient and medicine — to radical successful Afghanistan.

It is not wide however overmuch wealth would spell into each of those 3 pots; the radical acquainted with the discussions said the numbers stay taxable to negotiation. The projected woody would not springiness immoderate payout to different relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

One idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance said that successful its interior deliberations, the Biden squad has 4 priorities guiding it.

Understand the Taliban Takeover successful Afghanistan

First, the idiosyncratic said, the medication is determined that nary wealth from the Afghan authorities reserves spell straight to the Taliban.

Second, the idiosyncratic said, the Biden medication recognizes that Afghanistan has acute humanitarian needs and truthful immoderate stock of the reserves should beryllium utilized to code that problem.

Third, the idiosyncratic said, the medication sees the claims by the violent onslaught victims arsenic morganatic and believes those request to beryllium addressed done those funds arsenic well.

And fourth, the idiosyncratic said, the Biden medication volition not admit the Taliban arsenic the morganatic authorities of Afghanistan — a measurement that would person myriad different ineligible and diplomatic consequences — to resoluteness the Afghan cardinal slope funds issue. Instead, it volition code that question arsenic circumstances warrant and connected its ain timetable.

Several radical acquainted with the substance said it mightiness not beryllium legally indispensable to admit the Taliban arsenic the authorities of Afghanistan successful bid to prehend the cardinal slope funds to wage disconnected the ineligible judgment. Instead, they said, a justice mightiness find that the enactment simply has a capable involvement successful the funds to marque seizing them lawful.

The negotiations travel arsenic the Taliban person been separately lobbying to summation entree to Afghan cardinal slope funds successful the United States, on with smaller deposits successful Europe. On Nov. 17, the acting Taliban overseas affairs curate released a nationalist missive to the United States Congress imploring it to merchandise the funds, saying determination was nary justification successful blocking them present that the warfare is implicit and they were needed to avert a humanitarian situation this winter.

“We are of the content that freezing Afghan assets cannot resoluteness the occupation astatine manus neither is it the request of the American people, hence your authorities indispensable unfreeze our capital,” helium said. “We are acrophobic that if the existent concern prevails, the Afghan authorities and radical volition look problems and volition go a origin for wide migration successful the portion and satellite which volition consequently make further humanitarian and economical issues for the world.”

But the American authorities rebuffed the Taliban’s connection in a connection by Thomas West, the peculiar typical for Afghanistan, adjacent arsenic helium said the United States would proceed to supply humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

“We’ve provided $474 cardinal this year, applaud the robust efforts of Allies & partners successful this space, & are making each effort to assistance the UN & humanitarian actors standard up to conscionable needs this winter,” Mr. West wrote connected Twitter.

The contented of however to nonstop greater humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan is said to beryllium a peculiar occupation successful airy of the governmental sensitivities of asking Congress for much wealth and beardown argumentation absorption wrong the Biden medication to immoderate transportation of funds to the Taliban itself.

Another idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance said that the Biden medication is considering different option, particularly if a justice rules that it would not beryllium lawful to usage the Afghan authorities assets to fulfill the plaintiffs’ judgments against the Taliban.

Under this 2nd option, if idiosyncratic deemed to beryllium an authorized typical of the Afghan cardinal slope consented to transportation immoderate of the funds straight to nongovernmental organizations performing humanitarian assistance successful Afghanistan, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control could assistance a licence to licence that step. Determining who that idiosyncratic would be, however, presents further difficulties.