KABUL (Dispatches) – Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has left Kabul for the United Arab Emirates where he will stay for three days before traveling to Germany, his close aide Shahzada Massoud confirmed Sunday. This is Karzai’s first trip abroad after the establishment of Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. Karzai’s trip also comes on the same day as a delegation of the Taliban led by acting defense minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid traveled to the UAE. The defense ministry announced that on this trip, the acting defense minister will meet with Emirati leaders and Afghans who live in the UAE and that it is also aimed at strengthening relations between Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf state.