The UAE has granted asylum to former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his family who fled Afghanistan earlier, the national WAM news agency reported, citing the UAE Foreign Ministry.
"The UAE received President Ashraf Ghani and his family in the country out of humanitarian concerns," the statement reads.
On August 15, Ghani fled Afghanistan a few hours before the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) entered Kabul without a fight. He was accompanied by his wife, Rula Ghani, and two more people, including his advisor. There were no official reports about Ghani’s location up until now.
The former Afghan leader wrote on Facebook that he had stepped down to avoid bloodshed. The Russian Embassy in Kabul said that Ghani was carrying a large amount of cash with him on his way out of the country. The amount was so large in fact that it could not fit in a helicopter.
Members of the coordination council established in Kabul for a peaceful transfer of power allegedly suggested that Ghani give up power in favor of the council so that the regime change can go ahead peacefully, although he refused to cooperate. Bloomberg claimed that the power transfer talks were launched in Doha a few weeks before the fall of Kabul. It was proposed that some representatives of Afghanistan’s former authorities could join new power institutions created together with the Taliban but Ghani’s escape put an end to these hopes.
