Afghan assets belong to people, should be frozen, says UN spokesman

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaks during a daily news conference at the UN headquarters in New York on August 26, 2020. XIE E XINHUA UNITED NATIONS - Assets of Afghanistan that were frozen by other countries belong to the Afghan people and should be used for their benefit, said a UN spokesman on Wednesday.

We believe that Afghanistan's assets that were frozen last year by a number of states belong to the Afghan people and every effort should be made to find ways in which these funds can be used for their benefit.

"We believe that Afghanistan's assets, frozen last year by a number of states, belong to the Afghan people and every effort should be made to find ways in which these funds can be used for their own benefit," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

He said that it is important to ensure that money is not used for illegal purposes and that all such funds are handled in a transparent and accountable way.

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Asked whether the United Nations believes that US President Joe Biden's decision to divert half of the Afghan assets he had frozen for US domestic use is wrong, Dujarric said, We believe Afghan assets belong to the Afghan people, and should be spent in a transparent way that benefits the Afghan people.