Giving frozen Afghan funds to families of 9/11 victims is 'unjust,' former Afghan president says

Hamid Karzai
(Image credit: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images for 9th World Islamic Economic Forum)

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that the White House's decision to distribute funds seized from the country's ousted pro-Western government to the families of 9/11 victims is "unjust and unfair" and "an atrocity against Afghan people," The Associated Press reported.

When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last summer, the Biden administration froze some $7 billion the U.S.-backed government had deposited at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

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Karzai argued that all of the money should be returned to Afghanistan because "Afghan people are as much victims as those families who lost" loved ones on 9/11. He also said the money "does not belong to any government" but to "the people of Afghanistan," who are in the midst of a major humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations warned earlier this year that most of Afghanistan's 38 million people live below the poverty line and as many as 1 million Afghan children are in danger of starvation, Politico reported.

Grayson Quay

Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteModern AgeThe American ConservativeThe Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.