Three well-informed sources told Reuters that US President Joe Biden’s administration will continue to negotiate the release of billions of foreign-owned dollars at the Central Bank of Afghanistan, despite the late al-Qaeda leader’s presence in Kabul and the Taliban’s slowdown. movement and the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

The decision to continue this initiative to help stabilize the collapsed Afghan economy highlights Washington’s growing concern about the humanitarian crisis after the United Nations warned that nearly half of the country’s 40 million people will face “severe hunger” as winter approaches.

As Reuters reported last month, a plan to move billions of dollars of Afghan Central Bank foreign-owned assets into a proposed Swiss trust is at the heart of the US-led effort. These payments will be made with the help of an international council and bypass the Taliban, many of whose leaders are under US and UN sanctions.

Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, quoted state and Treasury officials who told independent analysts at a press conference on August 11, 12 days after al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a CIA drone attack. to the balcony of his safe. house in Kabul that they will continue negotiations, although they are disappointed with the pace at which they are progressing.