KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed on Sunday that he will run for office during next year’s presidential polls, insisting that it was essential to hold the elections despite rising violence in the country.
“My allies are the nation of Afghanistan; three major strata of (Afghan society): Young people, women and the poor. My goal has not been power, but to serve, and my goal (will continue to be) to serve,” he told a news conference in Kabul.
Ghani, who has been leading the National Unity Government (NUG) in a power-sharing deal with his arch political rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, said making alliances was normal and he will go for it.
He did not reveal whether he intended to keep the position of Chief Executive given to Abdullah in a deal brokered by the US following the fraudulent elections of 2014.
He added that despite security challenges and rising violence, holding polls was essential for Afghanistan, locked in decades of conflict.
The president rejected speculation that there were plans to convene a grand traditional assembly, instead of elections, due to those challenges.
He said that there had been discussions about the return of first vice president, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who has been exiled in Turkey for over a year amid allegations of ordering his body guards to arrest and sexually assault a political rival.
Ghani also said he had ordered launch of an investigation of images and videos showing government troops had tortured and maltreated body guards of a commander for Dostum, who the government arrested early this month.
The footage showed government commando forces kicking handcuffed guards of the commander, one standing on the head of one detainee and another on couple of others’ stomachs. One was shown turning over body of a man who had just been shot dead.
The images sparked anger and criticism among some who accuse Ghani’s government of violating the rule of law.
“For me as the commander in-chief of the armed forces, any behavior of security and defense forces which are in contradiction with the enforced principles and laws, is by no means acceptable,” Ghani said.
The arrest of the commander loyal to Dostum has angered ethnic Uzbeks, who have closed down three border crossings and various elections offices in the north of the country during nearly two weeks of protests.
Ghani did not say if his government was doing any thing to reopen the border crossings. Closures have severely hampered flow of imports and exports in the past few days. Nor did he mention when election offices would reopen.
The protests, ordered by Dostum, show the amount of support he has among his fellow ethnic Uzbeks. Dostum has said he will return to Afghanistan after the release of his commander, who has been detained by Kabul.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani announces he will stand for re-election
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani announces he will stand for re-election
- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed on Sunday that he will run for office during next year’s presidential polls
- Ghani also said he had ordered launch of an investigation of images and videos showing government troops had tortured and maltreated body guards
Progress for Ukraine talks in Paris uncertain with US focus shifting to Venezuela
- Ukraine’s allies are meeting in Paris to discuss security guarantees after a potential ceasefire with Russia. The Trump administration’s focus on Venezuela could complicate progress
- France and the UK lead efforts to strengthen post-ceasefire defenses for Ukraine, possibly with European forces
PARIS: Ukraine’s allies are meeting Tuesday in Paris for key talks that could help determine the country’s security after a potential ceasefire with Russia. But prospects for progress are uncertain with the Trump administration’s focus shifting to Venezuela.
Before the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, French President Emmanuel Macron had expressed optimism about the latest gathering of so-called “coalition of the willing” nations. For months, they have been exploring how to deter any future Russian aggression should it agree to stop fighting Ukraine.
In a Dec. 31 address, Macron said that allies would “make concrete commitments” at the summit “to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace.”
Macron’s office said Tuesday’s meeting will gather an unprecedented number of officials attending in person, with 35 participants including 27 heads of state and government. The US will be represented by President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Macron’s office said the US delegation was initially set to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who changed his plans for reasons related to the military intervention in Venezuela.
Participants seek concrete outcomes on five key priorities once fighting ends: ways to monitor a ceasefire; support for Ukraine’s armed forces; deployment of a multinational force on land, at sea and in the air; commitments in case there’s another Russian aggression; and long-term defense cooperation with Ukraine.
But whether that’s still achievable Tuesday isn’t so clear now, as Trump deals with the aftermath of his decision to effect leadership change in Venezuela.
Ukraine seeks firm guarantees from Washington of military and other support seen as crucial to securing similar commitments from other allies. Kyiv has been wary of any ceasefire that it fears could provide time for Russia to regroup and attack again.
Recent progress in talks
Before the US military operation targeting Maduro, Witkoff had indicated progress in talks about protecting and reassuring Ukraine.
In a Dec. 31 post, Witkoff tweeted that “productive” discussions with him, Rubio, and Kushner on the US side and, on the other, national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine had focused on “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart.”
France, which with the United Kingdom has coordinated the monthslong, multination effort to shore up a ceasefire, has only given broad-brush details about the plan’s scope. It says Ukraine’s first line of defense against a Russian resumption of war would be the Ukrainian military and that the coalition intends to strengthen it with training, weaponry and other support.
Macron has also spoken of European forces potentially being deployed away from Ukraine’s front lines to help deter future Russian aggression.
Important details unfinalized
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said during the weekend that potential European troop deployments still face hurdles, important details remain unfinalized, and “not everyone is ready” to commit forces.
He noted that many countries would need approval from parliament even if leaders agreed to military support for Ukraine. But he recognized that support could come in forms other than troops, such as “through weapons, technologies and intelligence.”
Zelensky said that post-ceasefire deployments in Ukraine by Britain and France, Western Europe’s only nuclear-armed nations, would be “essential” because some other coalition members ”cannot provide military assistance in the form of troops, but they do provide support through sanctions, financial assistance, humanitarian aid and so on.”
“Speaking frankly as president, even the very existence of the coalition depends on whether certain countries are ready to step up their presence,” Zelensky said. “If they are not ready at all, then it is not really a ‘coalition of the willing.’”
