Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul after 'stealing USD 169 million from the state funds', claims Afghan diplomat

Moscow, Aug 19: Afghanistan's ambassador to Tajikistan has accused Afghan President Ashraf Ghani of stealing USD 169 million from state funds and has called on international police to arrest him.

Ghani fled Afghanistan on Sunday, just as the Taliban approached Kabul, and his whereabouts remained unknown until Wednesday, when the United Arab Emirates said it has accepted him and his family on account of "humanitarian considerations."

Ambassador Mohammad Zahir Aghbar told a news conference on Wednesday that Ghani "stole USD 169 million from the state coffers" and called his flight "a betrayal of the state and the nation."

The ambassador did not elaborate or explain his claim further. Aghbar also promised to file a request to the Interpol to arrest Ghani. Shahriyor Nazriev, director of the Interpol's National Central Bureau in Tajikistan, told Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti that they haven't received such a request yet.