Ashraf Ghani apologizes to the Afghan people for fleeing
Ghani stated in a live Facebook speech on August 18 that he was "forced" to leave Afghanistan by his security team because "there was a genuine risk that I would be caught and killed."
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Abu Dhabi, Sept 9: Ashraf Ghani, the former Afghanistan president, has apologized to the Afghan people for fleeing to the United Arab Emirates.
He stated that he had spent the last 20 years assisting Afghanistan in becoming a "democratic, prosperous, and independent state." Mr Ghani went on to express his "deep and heartfelt sadness" that "my own chapter ended in similar tragedy to my forefathers." The 72-year-old former president, who has faced harsh criticism from other Afghan leaders for departing the nation, stated that he will address the "events before my departure" in the near future.
Ghani repeatedly denied taking substantial sums of money with him as he left the country, saying he was "not even permitted to take my sandals off and put my shoes on."
"Leaving Kabul was the most difficult decision of my life," he said, adding that he was sorry he "could not make it end differently". Ghani unexpectedly departed Afghanistan on 15 August as Taliban fighters marched on Kabul.
He confessed for not being there for his people, but "it was the only way", he added. He denied once again that he had been to the UAE with $169 million. Ghani claimed in a message posted on Twitter on Wednesday that he had no option but to flee the nation to avert widespread bloodshed.
"I departed at the request of palace security, who cautioned me that staying risked triggering the same street-to-street violence that the city had seen during the civil war in the 1990s," he said, adding that he did so to "rescue Kabul and its six million residents."
Ghani stated in a live Facebook speech on August 18 that he was "forced" to leave Afghanistan by his security team because "there was a genuine risk that I would be caught and killed." When the Taliban stormed Kabul's presidential palace, he says, "they started hunting for me from room to room."