When the Taliban entered Kabul a week ago and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled, another national leader appeared on video from inside the city, assuring people he would not go anywhere: the former head of state. state of the country, Hamid Karzai.
Mr Karzai, who led the first Afghan government after the Taliban was ousted in 2001 and served as president until 2014, stood by his three young daughters, struggling to be heard by the noise of the Taliban. American helicopters evacuating Americans and urged their fellow citizens not to panic.
“My family, my girls and I are here with you,” the former president told residents of the capital. “I call on the security forces and the Taliban, wherever they are, to ensure the safety of the people.”
The message was not just meant to instill calm. He was also part of a campaign by Mr Karzai, which he said aims to avoid fighting and negotiate some sort of power-sharing agreement between the Taliban and other Afghan political forces. For the past two years, Mr. Karzai has tried to put himself at the center of these efforts.
Last Sunday, he said he was forming a three-person “coordinating council” to ensure a peaceful transfer of power along with Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the former Afghan government’s peace delegation, and the warlord. Islamist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.