A former British Royal Marine who established an animal sanctuary in Kabul left an obscene letter to a British government aide as he sought to put his staff and pets on a flight out of Afghanistan, according to reports.
The Times said it had obtained a leaked audio recording of Paul «Ben» Farthing berating Peter Quentin, a special adviser to British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, whom he accused of «obstructing» efforts to arrange a flight.
Farthing’s campaign to get workers and animals out of the Nawzad shelter from Afghanistan has sparked controversy in recent days, after receiving an enormous amount of public support.
Despite granting visas to his 24 employees and their families, Farthing refused to leave without his pets and aimed to get 200 dogs and cats out of the country.
The British Ministry of Defense announced on Friday that a former Marine and his animals were at Kabul airport and that the British government had sponsored a permit for their charter flight.
In the taped message, which was reportedly sent on Monday, Farthing threatened to «destroy» Mr Quentin on social media if he did not help arrange the evacuation.
He said, «I just found out you’re preventing me from taking this flight out of Afghanistan for my staff and animals. So here’s the bargain buddy. Either you get that ISAF number and you’ll get me permission to get to this airport, or tomorrow morning I’m going to turn over you and the whole family*** *** The country, and everyone else who invested in this bailout, will know it’s you, you, who are preventing this dummy move. All right?».
He continued, «I’m getting my staff out of here and I’m getting a lot of other people out of here on this trip, and then the dogs and cats go in the cargo hold. Nobody can sit in the cargo hold, only the animals.»
Social media
Mr. Farthing asked for papers saying his employees were «approved», or else he would «spend the rest of my time destroying you on social media and every other online platform I can find».
He said that he served for 22 years in the Royal Marines and that he «never took such a vile of people like you stopping me».
Mr Farthing insisted he was «taking people from this country and others on a privately funded plane».
His «Operation Astronomy» campaign was a huge success on social media, but Wallace complained that it distracted those focused on evacuating the most vulnerable.
Wallace said earlier that Defense Department employees had been abused by Mr. Farthing’s supporters.