‘COULDN’T MAKE IT END DIFFERENTLY’: GHANI APOLOGISES

KABUL: Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani apologised for fleeing the country, which is now under Taliban rule with a government that includes a Us-designated terrorist. “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.”

NEW DELHI: The foreign ministry under Afghanistan’s erstwhile government led by Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday described the Taliban’s interim cabinet as “illegitimate”.

It said all Afghan foreign missions around the world would continue their duties based on the constitution.

The statement, issued in the name of the foreign ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, contended the “so-called Taliban cabinet will result in undermining Afghanistan’s political, ethnic and social diversity, lead to increased tensions and also undermine the prospect of a comprehensive and lasting peace”.

In a separate statement, Ghani, who fled Afghanistan after Taliban forces marched into the capital on August 15, explained the reasons for his abrupt departure and sought to dismiss allegations that he had left the country with millions of dollars and other assets.

Ghani said, “I left at the urging of the palace security who advised me that to remain risked setting off the same horrific street-to-street fighting the city had suffered during the Civil War of the 1990s.”

Describing accusations that he fled with a large sum of money as “categorically false”, Ghani said corruption was a “plague” that crippled Afghanistan for decades. “I have publicly declared all of my assets. My wife’s family inheritance has also been disclosed and remains listed in her home country of Lebanon. I welcome an official audit or financial investigation under UN auspices or any other appropriate independent body to prove the veracity of my statements here.”

Meanwhile, the National Resistance Front, which is led by leaders from Panjshir such as Ahmad Massoud, said that the Taliban’s caretaker cabinet was “illegal and a clear sign of the group’s enmity with the Afghan people”.