Ex-Afghan President Apologizes After Fleeing Taliban, Denies Stealing Millions in Government Cash
Former president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani released a statement apologizing to his countrymen over his decision to flee the nation as it was taken over by the Taliban.
Ghani, who fled to the United Arab Emirates as the Taliban entered Kabul, said that leaving the capital city was “the most difficult decision of my life.” He said he was advised to flee by Afghan presidential palace security, who warned him that staying meant that Kabul risked plunging into bloody chaos like it saw during Afghanistan’s civil war of the 1990s.
“I believed it was the only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her 6 million citizens,” Ghani said.
From there, Ghani addressed accusations that he stole millions of dollars worth of government funding as he fled the country. He denied the charges against him, calling them “completely and categorically false,” and lamenting the prevalence of corruption in his country.
Statement 8 September 2021 pic.twitter.com/5yKXWIdLfM
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) September 8, 2021
“I welcome an official audit or or financial investigation under United Nations auspices or any other appropriate, independent body to prove the veracity of my statement here,” Ghani said. “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 continued by defending the merits of his time in office, but he concluded by lamenting his failure to secure Afghanistan’s future as a peaceful democratic republic.
“It is with deep and profound regret that my own chapter ended in similar tragedy to my predecessors — without ensuring stability and prosperity,” he said. “I apologize to the Afghan people that I could not make it end differently. My commitment to the Afghan people has never wavered and will guide me for the rest of my life.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
