Ghani, Abdullah head to Europe for NATO, London Conference

KABUL (NNI): Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah left Kabul for Europe with a delegation to participate in NATO’s foreign ministers meeting in Brussels and the London Conference on Afghanistan on Monday, the Presidential Palace said in a statement.

Ghani and Abdullah will attend NATO’s foreign ministers meeting on Monday and on Tuesday both officials will fly out to the United Kingdom to attend the London Conference and meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron and other officials, according to the statement.

The delegation accompanying Ghani and Abdullah include Head of the Supreme Court Rasheed Rashid, National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar, Head of the High Peace Council Salahuddin Rabbani and others.

This comes just a day after Ghani announced that the new cabinet will be formed in a matter of two to four weeks following thorough assessments of the qualified nominees.

On Sunday evening Ghani said that majority of the acting ministers will hand over complete responsibilities to their deputies who will be the acting ministers until the creation of the new cabinet, with an exception of a few acting ministers who will accompany him to Europe.

Just a day before departing for Europe, the president ratified the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as well as the Census and Access to Information Laws