Gold, copper mines contracts singed under US, UK pressure: IWA

Contract signing for extraction of two major Afghan gold and copper mines in the US sparked criticism as members of civil society say the accords were signed under US and UK pressure, and in violation of Afghanistan’s Minerals Law.
The Afghan embassy in Washington said late on Friday that the contracts for Badakhshan Gold Mine and Balkhab Copper Deposit were inked in DC on Friday by Afghan Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Nagis Nehan and Centar Ltd Founder Ian Hannam, who was once known the “King of Mining” in the British press for his role in deals involving mining giants such as BHP Billiton Ltd. and Xstrata PLC. According to the embassy statement, the licenses will grant Centar Ltd to explore the mineral deposits.
Addressing the agreement signing ceremony, an official of the embassy Fazl Rahman Fazl Yar termed the inking of the agreements as a key step towards promotion of foreign investment in Afghanistan.
However, civil society activists in Afghanistan say the Afghan government has been under pressure from US and UK to grant the right of extraction to the company despite it being in conflict with Afghanistan’s Mineral Law.
Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA )chief Syed Akram Afzali says the two contracts were signed after British and the US governments influenced some officials in the Afghan government and all the profit of the contracts goes to the contractors.
He said the signing of these contracts mean looting of the natural reservoirs and international conspiracy.
Afzali said the Afghan government, especially President Ashraf Ghani, was somehow making a political bargaining on the contracts, which was a warning for the future of the country’s mining sector.
IWA chief also said that Mineral Law of Afghanistan prohibits members of Afghan cabinet and other high ranking officials from getting mining contracts for at least five years after their tenure is ended, but former minister of urban development Mr. Sayed Sadat Mansour Nadiri, who resigned some months back, is shareholder of the firm that won the contract.
The winner company founder Ian Hannam also implicitly admitted the US government influence in getting the contract as he told The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration’s renewed focus on Afghanistan’s mineral wealth helped push the government to finalize the deals.
President Donald Trump spoke to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last September to send a message that Afghanistan’s natural resources, including large deposits of copper, iron ore and gold, should help pay for the war.