Ex-Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani vows to return, says 'Don't trust people who say I betrayed you'

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Wednesday that he favours negotiations between the Taliban and former senior officials. He denied transferring large sums of money out of the nation before escaping to the UAE. Ghani, making his first public appearance since fleeing Kabul as the Taliban ringed the capital on Sunday, a decision that culminated in the Taliban's complete control, emphasised that he fled to save the further country bloodshed.

In a taped video message broadcast to his Facebook page, he said that he had no intention of staying in exile in the Gulf country and was "in talks" to return home. He also stated that he was working to "protect Afghan control over our nation" without providing any information. Ghani spoke from the United Arab Emirates, which announced on Wednesday that he was being housed there for "humanitarian reasons."

He stated that he is in the Emirates to put an end to the carnage and turmoil. He advised residents not to trust anybody who claims that your president betrayed you and left for his benefit and to preserve his own life. Ghani said that he was removed from Afghanistan in such a hurry that he didn't even have time to take his slippers off his feet and pull on his boots, and that these allegations were untrue.

The former president backed meetings on Wednesday between top Taliban members, Ghani's predecessor Hamid Karzai, and Abdullah Abdullah, who oversaw the ultimately unsuccessful peace effort.
Abdullah, a long-time adversary of Ghani, announced the president's departure from the nation on Sunday, implying that he would be harshly punished.
On the other hand, Ghani maintained he had gone for the sake of the country, not his own.

• Ashraf Ghani
• Afghanistan
• Taliban