Top Afghan clerics urge Saudi-led talks with Taliban

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March 20, 2009 12:19 EDT

KABUL (AP) -- Afghanistan's top Muslim clerics urged President Hamid Karzai on Friday to push ahead with a proposal for talks with the Taliban that would be mediated by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

President Barack Obama has urged the Afghan government to encourage moderate elements of the Taliban to reconcile with the government, and Karzai has repeatedly said he is open to talks with top Taliban leaders, but has made few apparent moves to start such a process.

However, Karzai has previously asked King Abdullah to facilitate contacts with the Taliban. Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief met with top officials in Afghanistan in January in a move seen by many as part of a quiet effort to open a line of communication.

The leaders of Afghanistan's powerful Muslim clerics' council pressed Karzai in a meeting Friday to push the talks forward, said Faiz Mohammad, a council member from Kunduz province. They proposed a meeting that would include government and Taliban representatives and also former jihadi leaders, other prominent Afghans and representatives of neighboring countries, Mohammad said.

Karzai's office issued a statement summarizing the meeting, without saying if it would take any action. "The government is working for permanent peace with all its power,'' the statement said.


http://wvgazette.com/News/200903200243

[EFerrari]

1. The Taliban's position, per Tariq Ali, is that they will not form a unity government

unless foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

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2. well

. . . the hope is that an eventual draw-down of forces can be worked into an agreement . . . unless the U.S. just wants to stay there forever.

[DCKit]

3. The fundamentalist Taliban would agree to talks moderated by the secular, non-religious leader...

of a religiously fascist monarchy? Sure a few Saudi royals have gone fundy, but they wouldn't trust the family firm to "one of those", and the general lack of adherence to religious doctrine among the royal family is Bin Laden's biggest pet peeve. And that's before the Shia/Sunni/Sufi/etc... differences are figured in.

Somehow I think they'd rather shoot him in the head and declare an empty victory as one of the thousands of princes-in-waiting are elevated to power.

Then again, perhaps their shared hatred of the U.S. and Israel might be bonding them together.

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4. Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries to initially recognize the Taliban regime

The tribal leaders may be expecting more money from the Saudis like they received during the anti-Soviet jihad. Saudi Arabia had invited persuadable members of the Taliban and the Karzai regime for peace talks in Riyadh in July 2008, and again in September.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5908441.ece

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5. more

The influential Afghanistan National Council of Ulemma (Religious Scholars) also said that those Taliban who attended the conference should have their names removed from a US "terrorist" blacklist and be guaranteed UN protection.

Copies of the resolution, reached after a five-day meeting last week attended by religious scholars from across the country, were distributed by Karzai's office.

"To ensure a full security as a key element in the country's progress, the council unanimously decided that the traditional Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) be convened," it said.

This assembly should involve religious scholars, intellectuals, tribal leaders, political figures and parliamentarians and representatives of the Taliban and Hiz-i-Islami faction, it said.

The United Nations and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference should also attend, the resolution said.

"For the anti-government forces to participate with confidence in the Loya Jirga, we suggest that their names be removed from the blacklist and that the United Nations guarantee their safety," it said.

read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4YZxIj81M2Mo-O_gATKLsPm1zLA

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6. .