WATCH : 'I left in a vest, shoes and T-shirt': 8 stunning claims by Afghanistan's former president Ashraf Ghani from exile

Afghanistan's former president Ashraf Ghani  said he was in the UAE, just days after leaving the country as the Taliban took control of capital Kabul.

Ghani said he left the country since his life was in danger and that the "Taliban gunmen were already at the Palace gates". 

"There was not much of a choice. I either had to stay or go," Ghani said.

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Here are eight major takeaways from Ghani's video message:

Warning about being hanged

"All my colleagues in the West told me that if I didn't leave, things would be worse. I would be hanged in front of my people and the great shameful historical tragedy would happen again," Ghani said.

Didn't take anything

"Don't believe those who say your president sold you out and fled. I left Afghanistan in a vest, shoes and a T-shirt and I didn't take anything else with me," Ghani informed.

Foreigners entered presidential palace

"I had a responsibility to my people, and I didn't want to start a bloodbath like in Syria and Yemen. After I left the country, the Taliban and unknown persons who do not speak any of our country's languages entered the palace," Ghani informed.

Would have been executed

"If I had stayed, I would have been executed in front of the people like Najibullah," he said.

Didn't take money

"The headlines about me taking all the money out of Afghanistan are not true. The situation has not deteriorated in Kabul because I left my post," Ghani said in a Facebook video.

Media wants to defame me

"All the government valuables fell into the wrong hands. I had no management when I left Afghanistan," the former president said, adding," In the last few days, I've seen that the media wants to defame me."

Welcome peace talks

"I welcome the peace talks that Abdullah Abdullah and Hamid Karzai are conducting and wish them success.  I was saving the people as best I could," Ghani said in the video.

Wanting to go back to Afghanistan

"I am currently in the UAE to prevent and try to make decisions that would bring me back to Afghanistan without consequences," Ghani told his countrymen as several thousand Afghans prepared to leave the country amid the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.

(With inputs from Agencies)