Status: 18.08.2021 6:01 p.m.
For a long time it was unclear where Afghanistan’s disempowered president was staying. The United Arab Emirates have now announced that they have taken in Ghani and his family. In his home country the anger against him is great.
For several days it was unclear in which country Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani could escape. It is now certain that he has found refuge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Gulf State Foreign Ministry confirmed that the country had welcomed him and his family on humanitarian grounds. Where in the country Ghani is staying was not mentioned. There had previously been reports that the politician was said to have been sighted in the capital Abu Dhabi.
Anger in the population
Ghani fled the country after the Taliban reached the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday morning. He justified his escape with concerns about the safety of the population in the capital. He wanted to prevent “a flood of bloodshed”. The Taliban had declared in the past that they were ready to carry out bloody attacks to drive him out of power. Many Afghans reacted angrily and accused him of destroying the country.
The Taliban marched into the capital late on Sunday, largely without a fight, returning to power almost 20 years after the invasion of Western troops. Nevertheless, the previous Vice President of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, declared himself the interim president of his country on Tuesday and referred to the constitution.
Safe haven for politicians
In the recent past, the United Arab Emirates had granted protection on several occasions to high foreign state representatives with problems in their home country. Last year, the former King Juan Carlos of Spain, who was suspected of corruption, went into exile in the Emirates. Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was sentenced to five years in absentia, found refuge in Dubai in 2017.