UPDATE 1-Raab from UK defends response to Afghan crisis after criticism

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LONDON, Aug. 20 (Reuters) – British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab defended his response to the fall of Afghanistan on Friday, refuting media reports that he did not help evacuate translators as inaccurate locals who had worked for Britain because he was on vacation.

“The whole government has worked tirelessly over the past week to help as many people as possible to evacuate Afghanistan,” Raab said, adding that he had focused on the events at the airport.

He said on Twitter he was making his statement in response to “inaccurate media reporting in recent days.”

Raab and Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under heavy criticism earlier this week from lawmakers in their own party who described the events as a failure of leadership and moral duty.

The Daily Mail newspaper then reported that Raab had been too busy on vacation to call his Afghan counterpart to ask for help evacuating local translators who had worked with the British government and who were threatened by the Taliban.

In his statement, Raab said he was advised to call the Afghan foreign minister from his office last Friday, but “this was quickly overtaken by events.”

“The call was delegated to a minister of state because I was prioritizing the safety and capacity of the airport on the direct advice of the director and the director general overseeing the response to the crisis,” he said. .

“In any event, the Afghan foreign minister agreed to answer the call, but was unable to due to the rapidly deteriorating situation.” (Reporting by William James and Kate Holton Editing by William Schomberg)

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