Ghani says ‘in talks to return’ to Afghanistan, terms cash allegation ‘baseless’

Abu Dhabi [UAE], August 19 (ANI): Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who has taken refuge in the UAE, said that he is in talks to return to Afghanistan and denied the allegation that he left Kabul with suitcases full of cash, a media report said.

Ghani, who left Kabul on Sunday as the Taliban entered Kabul, said that he is in talks to return to Afghanistan, a media report said.

He also said the allegations that he escaped with suitcases of cash were “completely baseless”, saying it was all “political and personality assassination”, Al Jazeera reported.

On Monday, Russian Embassy in Kabul said that Ghani left Kabul with four cars and a helicopter stuffed with cash.

“As for the collapse of the regime, it is most eloquently characterised by the way Ghani fled from Afghanistan: four cars were full of money, they tried to put part of the money into a helicopter, but everything did not fit. And some of the money was left on the runway”, Sputnik quoted Russian diplomatic mission spokesperson Nikita Ishenko as saying on Monday.

Ghani added, “I was forced to leave Afghanistan with one set of traditional clothes, a vest and the sandals I was wearing,” New York Post reported.

In a video message posted on Facebook on Wednesday Ghani also said that he left the country in an attempt to avoid bloodshed and backed the recent talks between the terror group and former Afghan president Hamid Karzai to stabilise the country. (ANI)