NEW YORK—After addressing the United Nations from an undisclosed location, Hebatullah Akhundzada visited Times Square to purchase a Halloween disguise suitable for remaining publicly invisible.
He rejected mascots dressed as Afghan women after learning their faces were visible and they could move without a mahram. “This costume is illegal in Afghanistan,” an aide explained, “which makes it dangerously recognizable abroad.”
At Madame Tussauds, Hebatullah encountered former republic officials standing perfectly still beside their own wax figures. Museum staff could not determine which ones had held office and which ones merely looked expensive while doing nothing.
He finally selected a Trump mask. Security approved it immediately: the face could appear everywhere, answer no questions, blame foreigners and still be described by supporters as governing personally.