Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Wednesday that he is currently in the United Arab Emirates, supporting the Taliban in talks with former Afghan government officials.
It was Ghani’s first public appearance since leaving Afghanistan on the 15th. In a video message posted on social media, Ghani said he had been forced to leave Afghanistan in the hope that it would avert bloodshed and further disaster.
On the day he left Afghanistan, Ghani said, his guards foiled a plot against him. He also denied allegations that he had left Afghanistan with large sums of money, calling it a “baseless lie”.
Ghani said he supports the Taliban’s negotiations with former Afghan government officials such as former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and hopes they will be successful. He is currently consulting with the parties concerned with a way to return to Afghanistan to continue to serve the Afghan people.
The UAE’s Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement on the 18th that the UAE “welcomes President Ghani and his family into the country from a humanitarian standpoint.”
Afghan Taliban entered and took control of the Afghan capital Kabul on the 15th, declared the “end of the war.” On the same day, Ghani announced on social media that he had left Afghanistan to avoid bloodshed. He did not explicitly say where he had resigned or where he was going.
