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'Three of us supposed to have dinner together': Abdul Farid Zikria

Abu Dhabi - "I'm in a deep state of shock."

The Afghan Ambassador to the UAE condemned the Kandahar terrorist attack that killed 11 people, including five Emiratis, on Tuesday night.
"My day isn't going very well since I heard the news of the attack," Abdul Farid Zikria started his conversation with Khaleej Times over the phone.
"I'm in a deep state of shock," he said, noting that he received the news via phone call from a UAE colleague at the time it happened. The bombing took place at the headquarters of the Governor of Kandahar in Afghanistan, killing 11 people and wounding 18 others. Investigators believe someone hid the bomb inside a sofa at the guesthouse.
Zikria said he was aware the UAE ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Juma Mohammed Abdullah Al Kaabi, who sustained a leg injury during the attack, was with a UAE delegation on humanitarian mission within the programme of the UAE to support the brotherly Afghan people.
"(Juma) is a good friend of mine for almost nine years now. He's like my brother, and I meet him every time I visit Kabul," said Zikria, who took his UAE office in 2004 before moving back to Kabul in 2009 and coming back to Abu Dhabi in January 2016.
He recalled speaking to Al Kaabi over the phone a day before the incident happened to discuss updates of the mission. Zikria said he was also good friends of one of the martyrs Mohammed Ali Zainal Al Bastaki.
"Three of us were supposed to have dinner before the UAE delegation leaves the UAE, but I couldn't attend. We couldn't re-schedule because their trip to Kabul was the next day. Whenever I think of this, I feel so saddened that we lost many good people."
He added: "I knew Al Bastaki, for example, and he was a terrific human being. Till now, I cannot remove my image of him.
"The UAE Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs and International Cooperation mentioned that the UAE envoy's visit also included a plan to lay the foundation stone for the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for technical education in the capital city of Kabul, to be funded by Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation.
Zikria added that he is in touch with the National Security Advisor sent to Kandahar among a fact-finding delegation. "He updated me that (Al Kaabi) is doing better and his health will improve after undergoing a leg surgery."
He added that such terrorist attacks are expected to only strengthen UAE-Afghanistan relations. "Our relationship with the UAE is deeply-rooted. It hasn't started yesterday, but the relations go back to hundreds of years.
"And the enemies of peace will never affect the brotherhood be-tween our nations," he said.
Zikria described the terrorist attack as "a case for both nations to remain together to fight against terrorism." Even before the attack, he said Afghanistan always cooperated with UAE against terrorism, but now the fight will be stronger.
"We have always been telling the world that one or two or three countries are not enough to fight terrorism. It should be fought globally," he said, adding that Afghanistan has been on the forefront in the fight against terrorism, but support from other governments is needed.

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com