Afghans Adopt a New Currency, Free 55 People

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday announced the issuing of a new currency, designed to end the confusion from several forms of money now in circulation and provide a symbol of Afghan renewal and unity.

On the same day, Afghanistan handed over 55 longtime Pakistani prisoners who had fought on the side of the ousted Taliban regime to their government, saying they no longer posed a danger here.

Rumors of the new currency had abounded in recent days, causing extreme volatility at money changer stands across the country.

Karzai’s announcement seemed aimed at averting panic among Afghans that their existing currency would become worthless.

In a nationally broadcast address, he assured Afghans that they would not lose money during the introduction of the new bills.

“In order to get rid of inflation, our economists and commercial consultants decided to remove three zeros from the old afghanis,” he said.

“Do not worry. No matter how much you have, you can freely exchange all your old afghanis at the nearest bank in all parts of Afghanistan,” he promised. “If banks are crowded or not available, you can change your money with money changers.”

The current afghanis, which over the past year have been valued at about 40,000 to the U.S. dollar, will be replaced by afghanis valued at about 40 to the dollar. The new currency, like the old, will float with the market and be backed by the nation’s gold and hard-currency reserves.

Karzai said the new currency will be honored throughout the country. Presently, variants of the afghani bill circulate in areas formerly controlled by Northern Alliance forces that overthrew the Taliban last fall with the help of U.S.-led troops. In addition, several foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar and the Pakistani rupee, are widely used.

“People will be proud,” Karzai said. “The new money will have value, and in the exchange markets it will be stable and credible.”

The government said two planeloads of new notes have arrived in Kabul, the capital, and the exchange of the notes will begin soon. The bills are being printed in Germany using the latest techniques to foil counterfeiters, Finance Ministry officials said. The switch will enable the Central Bank to determine how many afghanis are in circulation.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials characterized the prisoner release as the beginning of an exchange. But some here feared that the gesture may boomerang if those released return to take up arms against the multinational peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan.

The 55 prisoners had fought under the Taliban until they were captured by opposition forces before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the ensuing offensive by U.S.-led forces that toppled the Islamic regime. Another 55 are due to be turned over to Pakistan today.

“Those deemed not a threat to this country or others as terrorists and not wanted by any other country were returned to Pakistan,” said Omar Samad, a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The first batch included several aged men and some people on crutches. Reporters in Kabul were not allowed to interview them.

Although Pakistan has made no commitment, Afghanistan is hoping to receive in exchange significant numbers of its citizens held in Pakistani jails on minor charges such as theft and improper documentation, Samad said in an interview earlier this week.

“We have complained about the treatment of Afghan refugees,” Samad said. “Pakistan should release our citizens who may be unarmed petty criminals who were only looking for a morsel of food.”

The Pakistani prisoners turned over Wednesday, some of whom had spent as long as six years in the custody of militias that opposed the Taliban regime, were brought to Kabul’s airport and turned over to the Pakistani ambassador, Rustam Shah Mohmand. They were flown by military transport to Peshawar, Pakistan, where they were jailed again.

Pakistani authorities will determine whether the prisoners will be freed, face charges for various crimes or be held as potential terrorist threats, the Afghan government said. Mohmand told reporters at the airport that he hopes for the release of more Pakistanis.

Afghanistan is still holding at least 600 Pakistanis in the cities of Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul for having fought alongside Taliban forces, the Pakistani government says. Significant numbers of those are suspected of having been members of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network.

There are 2,000 to 4,000 Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners of various nationalities in Afghan jails, security officials in Afghanistan said recently.

Samad said the Pakistanis sent home Wednesday are believed to be religious militants, many of whom thought that they were enlisting to chase U.S. or Russian “infidels” out of Muslim Afghanistan.

U.S. officials have expressed reservations about the hand-over, citing the possibility that some of those freed will return and regroup to attack Afghanistan.

Afghan officials have insisted that the prisoners were screened by police as well as by the International Committee of the Red Cross and pose a minimal threat of being terrorists.

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Kraul reported from Kabul and Daniszewski from Mazar-i-Sharif. Daniszewski is The Times’ Moscow Bureau chief, currently on assignment in Afghanistan.