Ghani surfaces in UAE after fleeing Afghanistan

ABU DHABI: Afghanistan’s former leader Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan just hours after the Taliban took control of Kabul, has emerged in the United Arab Emirates, the country’s foreign ministry confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.

“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 UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a small post on its website.

The development comes as Forbes reported that the Afghan embassy in Tajikistan asked Interpol to arrest Ghani on charges of stealing from the country’s treasury.

The Afghan embassy in Tajikistan -- one of the countries Ghani was believed to had fled to -- also demanded the arrest of former Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib and Ghani’s chief adviser Fazel Mahmood, Forbes reported quoting news from Afghan outlet TOLO News.

The Russian embassy in Kabul alleged on Monday that Ghani had fled Afghanistan with four cars and a helicopter full of cash, the country’s RIA news agency reported. “Four cars were full of money, they tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac,” Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesperson for the Russian embassy, was quoted as saying.