KABUL - US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was among ambassadors from 35 countries who attended President Ashraf Ghani’s oath-taking ceremony in Kabul on Monday.
Ghani was scheduled to take oath at 11:00am today, but his spokesman Sediq Sidiqi tweeted the ceremony had been delayed for a few hours.
On the other hand, Ghani’s main challenger CEO Dr. Abdullah Abdullah was also sworn-in as president at a rival ceremony. Abdullah has claimed victory in the September presidential election.
The CEO had said if Ghani was administered oath, he would also take oath.
Gran Hewad, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said a number of foreign diplomats based in Kabul had been invited to participate in Ghani’s oath-taking ceremony.
Diplomatic sources said ambassadors from the EU, UK, the US, Pakistan and India attended President Ashraf Ghani’s oath-taking ceremony.
The sources said the US has been trying to find a solution to the crisis and its ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad would not participate in Dr. Abdullah’s oath-taking.
An official at the Indonesian embassy told Pajhwok they would attend Ghani’s oath-taking ceremony. (Pajhwok)