Karzai hands gifts to central bank

KABUL (Pajhwok): More than a dozen gifts presented to President Hamid Karzai during his foreign trips were handed over to the central bank on Saturday, an official said.

Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) Governor Noorullah Delawari said at the handover ceremony that Karzai had received the 13 gifts on trips to Kuwait, China, Romania, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan, Japan, Italy and Turkey.

He added the gifts would be displayed at a museum to be built in the central bank.

Human Resource Director at Presidential Palace Shuja Mohammad Amal said: “We have always collected such gifts and kept them in the central bank as public assets.”

The gifts included costly clocks, some of them worth more than $100,000, he added. The presents included gold coins from Kuwait, Romania, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan, Japan, Italy and Turkey, as well as a precious clock from China.

DAB Treasurer Mahmood Sharif told Pajhwok Afghan News that more than 65 gifts given to the presidents had been handed over to the bank in the past 10 years.

Fourteen different gifts received by the president were handed over to the Kabul Museum last month.

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