Afghan president abandons country while brother supports Taliban

A controversial footage was relieved on Saturday showing wealthy business leader Hashmat Ghani, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani's younger brother, shaking hands with armed group Taliban's leadership grinning from ear to ear. While Hashmat has supported Taliban on social media day after day, there is growing public resentment against the Ghani brothers as the president evacuated overseas with a large amount of cash in possession immediately on Aug. 15 when Taliban took control of the capital city of Kabul.

Taliban on Saturday published a video of its leaders including Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani in charge of its military organization gathering around Hashmat, shaking hands with one another and posing for commemorative photos in an amicable mood. One of Taliban's leadership kisses Hashmat's forehead and another senior gives a pat on his shoulders as if he encouraged and supported him according to the Taliban-provided video clip. Hashmat affirmed his loyalty to Haqqani, said Taliban.

Hashmat is the chairman of Ghani Group, a private business at the helm of real estate, construction and shipping with a subsidiary in operation in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. President Ghani, reportedly staying in Abu Dhabi near Dubai, said brazenly on Wednesday that Afghanistan would have suffered a more atrocious bloodshed if he had not left it. In an interview with Aljazeera on Saturday, Hashmat argued that a new order should be brought to Kabul, speaking up for his elder brother by saying that things would have got worse if the president had stayed in the capital city.

Hashmat tweeted that the Taliban are capable of protecting the security of the Afghan people and that the country should accept the Taliban, on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. In response, angry Afghan citizens posted accusatory replies such as "Curse Ghani and his gang” and argued that it is the Ghani brothers whom the Taliban should remove right away.


Eun-Taek Lee nabi@donga.com