FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Today the Treasury Department authorized the unblocking of another $25.5 million in Afghan government-owned commercial bank assets. These assets were frozen by the Department of Treasury under a 1999 Presidential Executive Order issued to prevent their use by the Taliban authorities. The authorization, signed today by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, will allow the new Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) to access assets of Afghan Export Promotion Bank, Bank Millie, and subsidiaries of Bank Millie, Afghan House and Afghan Trading.

Today's authorization follows action taken by the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council on January 24^th which removed these four banks from its list of blocked entities. These actions follow the issuance of a January 24th license by the Office of Foreign Assets Control which unblocked approximately $193 million in gold and $25 million in other assets of the Afghan Central Bank held at the Federal Reserve of New York.

"We are committed to helping the Afghan people during this critical period of rebuilding," said Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. "We are optimistic that the funds unblocked today will play an integral role in this new chapter of Afghan history."