Ashraf Ghani Apologises To Afghans, Says Leaving Kabul Was Most Difficult Decision Of His Life

In the statement, Ghani, however, refuted allegations that he had taken millions of dollars belonging to the people of Afghanistan.

Dubai: Days after fleeing from Kabul after Taliban takeover, Afghanistan’s deposed president Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday released a statement, apologising to the Afghan people for leaving the country abruptly on August 15 and for not being able to ensure peace and stability.

“Leaving Kabul was the most difficult decision of my life, but I believed that it was the only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her 6 million citizens,” the statement issued by Ghani stated.

In the statement, Ghani, however, refuted allegations that he had taken millions of dollars belonging to the people of Afghanistan.

“Baseless allegations that as I left Kabul I took millions of dollars belonging to Afghan people. Charges completely false,” Ghani added in the statement.

It must be noted that Ashraf Ghani, along with his top ministers, fled Afghanistan as the Taliban took over the war-torn country on August 15 this year. Earlier issuing a statement, Ghani had said that he was ‘forced’ to leave the country and did so to ‘avoid bloodshed’.

Soon after his departure from Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani and his family were granted shelter in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on ‘humanitarian grounds’.

Copy of his full statement: 

Referring to fleeing the country, Ashraf Ghani said in his statement that he left Afghanistan at the urging of the palace security who advised him that remaining in the country could set off the same street-to-street fighting that Kabul had witnessed during the civil war of the 1990s.

“I have devoted 20 years of my life to helping the Afghan people work toward building a democratic, prosperous, and sovereign state – it was never my intent to abandon the people or that vision,” he said in the statement.

Responding to claims, Ashraf Ghani denied allegations that he fled Afghanistan with “four cars and a chopper full of cash”. Terming the charges as “completely and categorically false”, Ghani said corruption is a plague that has crippled Afghanistan for decades.’

“I inherited a monester that could not easily or quickly be defeated,” he wrote

Talking about his assets, Ashraf Ghani said that he has publicly declared all of his assets, including his wife’s family inheritance and remains listed in her home country of Lebanon.

“My close aides are ready to submit their finances to public audit, and I would encourage and urge other former senior officials and political figures to do the same,” Ghani wrote in the statement.