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Afghanistan: ex-president Ashraf Ghani welcomed in the Emirates after fleeing the Taliban

2021-08-18T16:31:43.074Z


Ashraf Ghani, 72, announced on Sunday that he had fled his country without specifying a destination. He had justified himself by arguing that "of innumerable


The United Arab Emirates have welcomed ex-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his family for “humanitarian” reasons, after his flight from Kabul which fell into the hands of the Taliban, the foreign ministry of this Gulf country announced on Wednesday.

Ashraf Ghani said Sunday to have fled his country to avoid a "bloodbath", acknowledging the victory of Islamist fighters.

Many rumors subsequently circulated about the place chosen for his exile, from Tajikistan to Uzbekistan via Oman or Lebanon, where his wife is from.

The ex-president justified himself by arguing that "countless patriots would have been killed and that Kabul would have been destroyed" if he had remained in Afghanistan. "The Taliban have won with the judgment of their swords and rifles and are now responsible for the honor, possession and self-preservation of their country," he added in a post on Facebook. The Emirates, along with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, recognized the Taliban government when they were in power from 1996 to 2001, when the radical Islamist movement was driven out by the American invasion.

This announcement by the Emirates comes as activities resume in Kabul, despite the fear that has prevailed among part of the population since the seizure of power by the Taliban.

Many Afghans fear that they will be ruled again by an ultrarigorist version of Islamic law.

Large crowds continued to gather outside foreign embassies on Wednesday, amid rumors of visa and asylum possibilities.

Returned to Afghanistan just after the fall of the Taliban

Elected in 2014 on the promise to redress Afghanistan and end the corruption that plagued the country, Ashraf Ghani ultimately did not keep either of these two promises and was forced to step down as the Taliban surrounded the country. capital city. Presented by his opponents as a puppet of the United States, he had seen his relations with Washington deteriorate after the Americans decided to start bilateral negotiations with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.

Aged 72, Ashraf Ghani grew up in Afghanistan, before going into exile in 1977 in the United States, where he studied at Columbia University in New York, to become a professor of political science and anthropology in the years 1980. Returning to Afghanistan just after the fall of the Taliban at the end of 2001, he was special adviser to the UN before becoming one of the architects of the interim government.

Read also Who is Mullah Baradar, the new face of the Taliban?

This is not the first time that the Emirates have welcomed leaders who have become

persona non grata

in their country. Last year, the former King of Spain Juan Carlos went into exile in the Emirates while the courts were investigating suspicions of corruption. In 2017, Dubai (one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE) hosted the former Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra, who was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto went into exile in the Emirates between 1999 and his return to the country in October 2007.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2021-08-18

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