By Patrick Tsui/FCO, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani attending the London Conference on Afghanistan on 4 December 2014.
On August 18, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it is currently hosting former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his family on “humanitarian grounds”.
Ghani resigned and fled Afghanistan on August 15 just a few hours before the Taliban took over the capital, Kabul. The UAE’s decision to host Ghani represent a shift in the overall policy of the Islamic country, which was one of the very few around the world to recognize the Taliban rule before the September 11 Attacks.
“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 statement.
Initially, media reports claimed that Ghani travelled to Oman after Tajikistan denied him permission to enter. Beck then, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Kabul, Nikita Ishchenko, told RIA Novosti that Ghani fled Afghanistan with four cars and a helicopter all stuffed full of cash.
“The collapse of the [Afghan] regime…is most eloquently characterized by how Ghani escaped from Afghanistan: four cars were filled with money, they tried to shove another part of the money into a helicopter, but not everything fit,” Ishchenko said. “And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac.”
Ghani’s last decisions as the President of Afghanistan were also criticized by his main backer and closest ally, the US. Washington attempted to pin its failure on the man.
“President Ghani insisted Afghan forces would fight [against the Taliban], but obviously he was wrong,” President Joe Biden said, referring to private Phone conversations he had with Ghani after announcing the decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan before September 11.
With the Taliban solidifying its grip over Afghanistan, Ghani will not likely play any role in the country’s future. On the other hand, Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself the legitimate head of Afghanistan, is currently organizing a resistance in the province of Parwan to the north of Kabul.
