9/11 victims cannot seize Afghan central bank assets — US judge

In this picture taken on February 18, 2023, an Afghan boy walks along with donkeys carrying firewood on the outskirts of Nimruz province. (Photo courtesy: AFP/FILE)
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Updated 22 February 2023
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9/11 victims cannot seize Afghan central bank assets — US judge

  • Judge said letting victims seize assets would amount to a ruling that Taliban are Afghanistan’s legitimate government
  • Decision defeat for groups of creditors that claimed part of $7 billion DAB funds frozen at Federal Reserve Bank in New York

NEW YORK: A US judge decided on Tuesday that victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are not entitled to seize $3.5 billion of assets belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank to satisfy court judgments they obtained against the Taliban.

US District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan said he was “constitutionally restrained” from finding that the Taliban was Afghanistan’s legitimate government, a precursor for attaching assets belonging to Da Afghanistan Bank, or DAB.

Daniels said letting victims seize those assets would amount to a ruling that the Taliban are Afghanistan’s legitimate government.

He said US courts lack power to reach that conclusion, noting that Biden administration does not recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government.

“The judgment creditors are entitled to collect on their default judgments and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history, but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank of Afghanistan,” Daniels wrote.

“The Taliban — not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people — must pay for the Taliban’s liability in the 9/11 attacks,” he added.

Daniels’ decision is a defeat for four groups of judgment creditors that claimed some of the $7 billion of DAB funds that had been frozen at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

“This decision deprives over 10,000 members of the 9/11 community of their right to collect compensation from the Taliban,” said Lee Wolosky, a lawyer for one creditor group known as the Havlish plaintiffs. “We believe it is wrongly decided and will appeal.”

The other creditor groups are also planning an appeal, a separate Tuesday court filing shows.

In an executive order last February, US President Joe Biden ordered $3.5 billion of the DAB funds set aside to benefit the Afghan people.

Last September, the US Treasury said it would move that money to a Swiss-based trust beyond the Taliban’s reach.

NOT THE TALIBAN’S MONEY

The creditor groups had sued many defendants, including Al-Qaeda, over the Sept. 11 attacks, and obtained default judgments after the defendants failed to show up in court.

At the time of the attacks, the Taliban had allowed Al-Qaeda to operate within Afghanistan.

The United States ousted the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in late 2001, but the Taliban returned to power in 2021 when Western forces pulled out of the country.

In his 30-page decision, Daniels adopted findings of US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, who last August also recommended no recovery for the creditor groups.

Daniels said he lacked jurisdiction over DAB under federal law because the bank was an instrumentality of a foreign government and thus had immunity.

He also said Afghanistan, as opposed to the Taliban, neither qualified as a “terrorist party” nor had been designated a state sponsor of terrorism.

“Neither the Taliban nor the judgment creditors are entitled to raid the coffers of the state of Afghanistan to pay the Taliban’s debts,” Daniels wrote.

Other countries recently held about $2 billion of Afghan reserves.

Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, when planes were flown into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon in northern Virginia, and a Pennsylvania field.

US sanctions ban doing financial business with the Taliban but allow humanitarian support for the Afghan people.


US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal — official

Updated 5 sec ago
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US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal — official

  • Prosecution can appeal decision but it was not immediately clear if they would do so
  • Agreements triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks

WASHINGTON: A US military judge has reinstated plea agreements for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, an official said Thursday, three months after the deals were scrapped by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The agreements — which are understood to take the death penalty off the table — had triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks, and Austin said that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial.
“I can confirm that the military judge has ruled that the pretrial agreements for the three accused are valid and enforceable,” the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
The plea deals with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices were announced in late July in a step that appeared to have moved their long-running cases toward resolution after years of being bogged down in pre-trial maneuverings while the defendants remained held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
But Austin withdrew the agreements two days after they were announced, saying the decision should rest with him given its significance.
He subsequently told journalists that “the families of the victims, our service members and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out in this case.”
Much of the legal jousting surrounding the men’s cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the CIA in the years after 9/11 — a thorny issue that the plea agreements would have avoided.


US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says

Updated 07 November 2024
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US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says

  • “The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena;,” Austin wrote

WASHINGTON: US Défense Secretary Lloyd Austin told troops that the Pentagon was committed to an orderly transition to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, adding that the military would not get involved in politics and was ready to carry out “all lawful orders.”
“The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena; to stand guard over our republic with principle and professionalism; and to stand together with the valued allies and partners who deepen our security,” Austin wrote in a memo to troops that was sent out on Wednesday night.


Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China

Updated 07 November 2024
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Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China

  • The suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt
  • His home was being searched

BERLIN: Germany’s federal prosecutor office said it arrested an American citizen on Thursday who allegedly spied for China.
The office said that the suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt and that his home was being searched.
The accused, who until recently worked for the US Armed Forces in Germany, is strongly suspected of having agreed to act as an intelligence agent for a foreign secret service.
Earlier this year, he contacted Chinese government agencies and offered to transmit sensitive information from the US military to a Chinese intelligence service, according to an investigation by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.
He had obtained the information in question in the course of his work in the US army, the prosecutor’s statement said, without giving any further information.


Offering Putin Ukraine concessions ‘suicidal’ for Europe: Zelensky

Updated 07 November 2024
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Offering Putin Ukraine concessions ‘suicidal’ for Europe: Zelensky

  • Zelensky blasted those who were urging him to give in to some of President Vladimir Putin’s hard-line demands
  • “There has been much talk about the need to yield to Putin, to back down, to make some concessions ...” Zelensky said

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said it would be “suicidal” for Europe to offer the Kremlin concessions to halt its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to European leaders at a summit in Hungary, Zelensky blasted those who were urging him to give in to some of President Vladimir Putin’s hard-line demands, and urged Europe and the United States not to loosen ties following the election of Donald Trump.
“There has been much talk about the need to yield to Putin, to back down, to make some concessions ... It’s unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all Europe,” Zelensky said, according to a copy of the address provided to AFP by the Ukrainian presidency.
He accused some European leaders, without specifying who, of “strongly” pushing Ukraine to make “concessions to Putin” — something Kyiv says would only embolden the Kremlin leader and encourage further aggression.
“We need sufficient weapons, not support in talks. Hugs with Putin won’t help. Some of you have been hugging him for 20 years, and things are only getting worse,” Zelensky said.
The summit was being hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has repeatedly railed against the West’s multi-billion dollar support to Kyiv.
Zelensky also urged Europe and the US to preserve their strong ties following Trump’s election victory this week.
The Republican has repeatedly criticized American aid to Ukraine and said he could end the war within hours of taking office.
“We do hope that America will become stronger. This is the kind of America that Europe needs. And a strong Europe is what America needs. This is the connection between allies that must be valued and cannot be lost,” Zelensky said.
As he repeated a call for more Western arms for his struggling army, Zelensky said Europe had to realize that North Korea was effectively “waging war” on the continent.
“North Korea is now, in effect, waging war in Europe. North Korean soldiers are attempting to kill our people on European soil,” he said, referring to reports Pyongyang has deployed troops to Russia to support the invasion.


US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal: official

Updated 07 November 2024
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US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal: official

  • The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so

WASHINGTON: A US military judge has reinstated plea agreements for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, an official said Thursday, three months after the deals were scrapped by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The agreements — which are understood to take the death penalty off the table — had triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks, and Austin said that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial.
“I can confirm that the military judge has ruled that the pretrial agreements for the three accused are valid and enforceable,” the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
The plea deals with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices were announced in late July in a step that appeared to have moved their long-running cases toward resolution after years of being bogged down in pre-trial maneuverings while the defendants remained held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
But Austin withdrew the agreements two days after they were announced, saying the decision should rest with him given its significance.
He subsequently told journalists that “the families of the victims, our service members and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out in this case.”
Much of the legal jousting surrounding the men’s cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the CIA in the years after 9/11 — a thorny issue that the plea agreements would have avoided.