AlHijjah 6, 1435, Sep 30, 2014, SPA -- Argentinian authorities paid creditors 161 million dollars on Tuesday in Buenos Aires, the first such payment under a new system devised to bypass a US court, dpa. Only a few hours earlier, US District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan, who is overseeing lawsuits over bonds that Argentina defaulted on in 2001, said that Argentina's move to change jurisdiction for payments was "illegal and cannot be carried out." But the Argentinian authorities proceeded as planned and deposited 161 million dollars in an account at the Buenos Aires bank Nacion Fideicomisos, the new payment agent it turned to after Griesa blocked a previous payment attempt and left the South American country technically in default. "Argentina ratifies once again its unyielding commitment to abiding by all its obligations with bond holders and contributing through any measure at its disposal to preserving their right to be paid," the Argentinian Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. Griesa had blocked Argentina from paying the holders of discounted bonds until it had paid in full the 1.5 billion dollars it owes to the New York hedge fund NML Capital, and several other creditors. The New York court has frozen 539 million dollars earmarked by Argentina for a June 30 payment due to investors who agreed to the discount. Argentina's Congress earlier this month passed a law to change jurisdiction, in an effort to prevent any more payments from being blocked. -- SPA 19:20 LOCAL TIME 16:20 GMT تغريد
