Amrullah Saleh asks ex-Afghan Prez Ghani to release tapes of conversations with diplomats

Afghanistan's former vice president Amrullah Saleh has asked Ashraf Ghani, the country's former President, to share the tapes of his conversations on the peace process with Zalmay Khalilzad and other significant international diplomats, specifically in July and August. "I call on @ashrafghani to release the tapes (esp Jul/Aug) of the conversations with Khalilzad & other relevant foreign diplomats on peace process to counter the growing propaganda that it was and is all the Afghan fault. I know these tapes exist & hope you have them. This z d time [sic]," Saleh wrote on Twitter. It came after US Secretary of State Antonio Blinken and Khalilzad accused Ghani of being responsible for the breakdown of the previous Afghan government.

Last month, US former special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, stated that Afghans are facing massive hardships in the country. He had taken part in numerous formats of negotiations on the situation in Afghanistan and specifically urged the Taliban to halt their attack in the country, reported ANI. Khalilzad is an Afghan-born diplomat, well-known for his participation during the talks with the Taliban in Qatar that led to the Doha Agreement during the Donald Trump-led US administration. The incumbent President Joe Biden carried out the agreement, resulting in a disorderly departure of US forces and American citizens, which caused a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, reported The Associated Press (AP). 

Blinken accuses Ghani of fleeing Afghanistan without showing resistance

On Sunday, October 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that former Afghan President pledged to fight and show resistance till death but fled Kabul as soon as the Taliban took over the capital city on August 15, reported Pakistan newspaper Dawn. In a recent interview with CBS Face The Nation talk-show, Blinken said that on the night of August 14, he was on the phone with Ghani, requesting him to accept a plan to hand over control to a new administration in Kabul, which would have been headed by the Taliban but would have 'encompassed all sections' of Afghan society. "Ghani told me that he was prepared to do that but if the Taliban wouldn't go along, he was ready to fight till death," Blinken said adding that the former Afghan President fled the country very next day, as reported by the outlet. 

Image: ANI/AP