Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who has taken exile in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday has released a video message on Facebook after the fall of Kabul has clarified all the allegations levelled at him that he left the country with four cars and a helicopter filled with cash. Defending his act of fleeing Kabul from the advancement of the Taliban to the UAE, he said that he wanted to prevent bloodshed.
He further claimed that all the allegations are baseless and he was forced to leave the country, while he had no time to change his shoes and left Kabul in the sandals that he was wearing at the Presidential palace on Sunday.
Ghani said he is discussing returning to Afghanistan and promised his country's people that he would continue to fight to restore Afghan’s sovereignty and ensure justice. He said he wants to revive real Islamic values and national achievements in the nation.
He doesn’t wish to remain a fugitive in Dubai, said Ghani, adding that if he had stayed back in Afghanistan he would have been hanged by the Talbanis.
"Do not believe whoever tells you that your president sold you out and fled for his advantage and to save his own life. These accusations are baseless... and I strongly reject them."
"Had I stayed there, an elected president of Afghanistan would have been hanged again right before the Afghans' own eyes," Ghani can be heard saying in the Facebook video.
Indirectly quashing an accusation by Afghanistan's ambassador to Tajikistan, Ghani said that he had not stolen $169 million from state funds. Further added he was forced to leave his country with one set of traditional clothes, a vest, and sandals.
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“I was moved out of Afghanistan in such a way that I didn’t even have the chance to take off my sandals and wear my shoes instead," he said.
Meanwhile, the UAE government said that it took Ghani and his family 'humanitarian grounds'.
"The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation can confirm that the UAE has welcomed President Ashraf Ghani and his family into the country on humanitarian grounds," the ministry said in a brief statement.
Ashraf Ghani’s location was ambiguous between Sunday and Wednesday as various reports stated he was escaping to Oman, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, or Lebanon.
Ashraf Ghani became Afghanistan's President in 2014 and has spent his life studying how to improve growth in poor nations. A scholar from Columbia University, he had taught at a few of America’s elite academic institutions. Later he went on to work at the World Bank and United Nations.
He has co-written a book named - “Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World."
After the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, Ghani returned to his country after more than a quarter-century and acquired the position of finance minister in a government led by Hamid Karzai.
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Ghani also said that the Taliban entered Kabul breaking an agreement to not do so, adding that he was in favour of a peaceful transition of power. However, he was expelled from Afghanistan. He has upheld the talks between the Taliban and former president Hamid Karzai and senior official Abdullah Abdullah, praying for the success of the process.
He wants to return to Afghanistan, he said. Meanwhile, the US said it did not recognise Ashraf Ghani as a player in Afghanistan.
"He is no longer a figure in Afghanistan," Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told reporters.