UAE says welcomed Ashraf Ghani, family on 'humanitarian grounds'

DUBAI: Afghan president Ashraf Ghani is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Gulf state’s foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday.

“The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation can confirm that the UAE has welcomed President Ashraf Ghani and his family into the country on humanitarian grounds,” it said in a statement.

Ghani had reportedly tendered his resignation as the Afghan president and left the country on Sunday as the Taliban seized control of Kabul. He said he wanted to avoid bloodshed.

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First elected president in 2014, Ghani took over from Hamid Karzai, who led Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, and oversaw the conclusion of the U.S. combat mission, the near-complete withdrawal of foreign forces from the country, as well as a fractious peace process with the Taliban.