US president mixes up names of Ghani and Kayani

KABUL (Pajhwok): US President Biden has mixed up the names of Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani and Pakistan’s former army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

“And General Austin is — just met with Kayani and I’m waiting for the briefing on that,” the US leader told a media briefing on Thursday.

However, the official transcript of the presidential news briefing, released by the White House, has quietly corrected Biden’s gaffe.

The transcript now reads Ghani instead of Kayani, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who stepped down as the Pakistan military chief in 2013, according to Fox News.

At his maiden news conference as president, Biden suggested US forces might not withdraw from Afghanistan by the May 1 deadline.

The Trump administration and the Taliban agreed on the deadline for the withdrawal of US troops in the peace deal they signed in Doha last year.

PAN Monitor/mud