A US district court judge refused to allow victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack to seize assets worth $3.5bn (£2.8bn) belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank, citing the illegitimacy of the Taliban rule which is not recognised by the Joe Biden administration.
Judge George Daniels said he was “constitutionally restrained” from finding that the Taliban was Afghanistan’s legitimate government. He said allowing victims to seize those assets would amount to ruling that the caretaker hardline Islamist rulers are the country’s legitimate leaders.
