Ambassador says Ghani stole $169m from Afghan treasury

DUSHANBE (Agencies): Lydia Isamova. President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan, stole $ 169 million from the treasury, Afghan Ambassador to Tajikistan Muhammad Zohir Agbar said Wednesday at a press conference in Dushanbe.
He called the escape of President Ghani “a betrayal of the state and the nation” and said that he “stole $ 169 million from the state treasury.”
At the same time, the ambassador said that he recognizes Deputy Prime Minister Amrullah Saleh as the head of Afghanistan.
“In accordance with the country’s constitution, in the absence, escape or death of the president, the first deputy will perform his duties, so Amrullah Saleh is now the head of state,” the ambassador said, quoted on the diplomatic mission’s Facebook page.
Agbar also said that he would contact Interpol with a request to arrest Ashraf Ghani in order to be taken to an international court.
According to RIA Novosti, the director of the National Central Bureau of Interpol in Tajikistan, Shakhriyer Nazriev, has not received such an appeal about the arrest of Ghani. “First, they (Afghanistan – ed.) Must apply to the Interpol Secretary General with a wanted statement, after which we will consider it,” he said.
Earlier, Amrullah Saleh said that unlike the fled President Ashraf, Ghani remained in the country and, according to the constitution, is the interim head of state. A source from RIA Novosti reported that Saleh’s forces recaptured the Charikar area in Parwan province north of Kabul from the Taliban.