More Sept. 11 Victims Who Sued the Taliban Want Frozen Afghan Funds

WASHINGTON — A combat is breaking retired among lawyers for antithetic groups of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, violent attacks implicit who tin effort to prehend $7 cardinal successful Afghan cardinal slope funds deposited astatine the New York Federal Reserve — wealth the Taliban present claims is theirs.

The quality stems from assorted lawsuits that groups of onslaught victims — the estates of those killed, on with their spouses, children and different relatives, and survivors who were injured — filed against Al Qaeda and others they said provided enactment to the terrorists, similar the Taliban. When the defendants did not amusement up successful court, the plaintiffs won default judgments years ago.

Because determination was nary mode to cod wealth from specified defendants, the judgments that they were liable for the losses the plaintiffs had suffered seemed simply symbolic. But the illness of the authorities of Afghanistan and the Taliban’s subject takeover of that state person raised the anticipation that they could prehend the Afghan authorities funds successful New York.

This week, after The New York Times reported connected specified efforts by a radical of astir 150 relatives of Sept. 11 victims successful a lawsuit known arsenic Havlish, lawyers for different groups of Sept. 11 victims indicated they privation to question a stock of the funds, too. Testiness betwixt the ineligible teams is rising, letters filed successful tribunal show.

The interjections adhd further complications to a thorny contented that has raised a acceptable of ineligible and diplomatic problems surrounding the Afghan wealth successful New York, which had accumulated from overseas assistance meant for the country’s erstwhile authorities and different sources.

After that authorities dissolved amid the Taliban takeover, the Federal Reserve blocked entree to the account. It was not wide who had the ineligible authorization to summation entree to those funds anymore, and longstanding counterterrorism sanctions marque it amerciable to ligament wealth to the Taliban, who person proclaimed themselves the caller authorities and demanded entree to the funds.

In September, the Havlish plaintiffs persuaded a justice to o.k. sending a U.S. marshal to serve the ineligible section of the Federal Reserve of New York with a “writ of execution” to prehend the wealth to screen a judgement of astir $7 cardinal successful damages they obtained a decennary ago. Seven State Department contractors who had separately sued the Taliban implicit a 2016 bombing besides sought to enforce a $138 cardinal default judgment.

The Biden medication intervened and said it wanted to pass the tribunal what would service the interests of the country. The authorities had been acceptable to archer the tribunal its presumption connected Friday. But this week, the Justice Department asked for a further hold until Jan. 28, saying the medication needed much time.

On Thursday, a national magistrate judge, Sarah Netburn, granted that delay, writing that “the tribunal recognizes that the attraction of the Afghan funds presently successful the Federal Reserve Bank of New York involves galore analyzable questions of instrumentality and policy.”

Lawyers successful the Havlish lawsuit person been negotiating with the Biden medication implicit a imaginable woody successful which they would redirect immoderate of the funds to humanitarian assistance successful Afghanistan if the authorities backs their claim. They besides offered to springiness immoderate to definite different spouses and children of Sept. 11 victims who, for method reasons, did not person payments from a compensation money for victims of coercion acceptable up by Congress.

But nether their proposal, plaintiffs successful different Sept. 11 lawsuits — respective of which screen larger numbers of victims — would not person payouts from the Afghan account.

The Havlish plaintiffs look to beryllium the lone large radical of Sept. 11 plaintiffs who already person a judgement saying the Taliban beryllium them money. Several radical acquainted with the cases said that was due to the fact that each of the defendants named successful the Havlish suit defaulted. The different cases named a fewer defendants who showed up successful court, delaying the damages signifier adjacent for those declared liable by default.

The government’s petition for the hold brought to the aboveground increasing tensions.

Timothy B. Fleming, a lawyer successful the Havlish case, had told the tribunal that the hold the authorities was seeking would beryllium excessively long and that it should get astatine astir until Dec. 28.

But connected Wednesday, Andrew J. Maloney, a lawyer for plaintiffs successful a antithetic Sept. 11 victims lawsuit known arsenic Ashton, wrote the court and expressed enactment for the government’s petition for a hold until Jan. 28. He said the hold would springiness his clients clip to get a damages grant against the Taliban and to formally sanction further plaintiffs to the case.

“We deliberation each 9/11 defendants should beryllium treated the aforesaid and astir everybody, if not all, person default judgments against the Taliban,” helium said successful an interview. “We privation to person that wealth divided proportionately among each the 9/11 decease cases and not conscionable a tiny group.”

Mr. Fleming wrote backmost to the tribunal earlier connected Thursday portraying the Ashton plaintiffs’ sentiment astir the requested hold arsenic irrelevant since “by their ain admission” they bash not presently person an enforceable damages judgement against the Taliban.

“The tribunal should disregard the suggestions and speculations of non-parties astir however to negociate this proceeding,” helium wrote. “If the Ashton plaintiffs ever bash get final, enforceable judgments against the Taliban, the Havlish plaintiffs volition beryllium prepared to code the precedence of those claims astatine that time.”

A New York law suggests that adjacent if the different plaintiffs get damages judgments and record claims too, the Havlish plaintiffs tin reason that due to the fact that they filed theirs first, they are entitled beryllium paid disconnected first. Their judgement indebtedness is astir adjacent to each the assets successful the account.

Lawyers for different large Sept. 11 suit that progressive a 2006 default liability judgement against the Taliban, known arsenic the Burnett case, are besides readying to question a stock of the Afghan cardinal slope proceeds, if those funds are going to beryllium distributed for that purpose, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with that case.

Also connected Thursday, Jerry S. Goldman, a lawyer successful yet different Sept. 11 lawsuit, known arsenic O’Neill, wrote the court to impulse delaying matters until precocious January. He said the further clip would support the funds “fully secured” portion the Biden medication and the tribunal benignant done competing claims.

The O’Neill case, filed successful 2004, does not sanction the Taliban oregon Afghanistan arsenic defendants. But Mr. Goldman said successful an interrogation that his clients deserved a just share, too.

“I deliberation everybody needs to beryllium treated equally,” helium said, adding, “The funds should spell to each of the victims, not a prime few.”