[R-G] Saudis Held Talks Between Taliban, Afghans

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/21/AR2008102102557.html?sub=new

Saudis Held Talks Between Taliban, Afghans
By Faiza Saleh Ambah and Candace Rondeaux
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, October 22, 2008; A13

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 21 -- Saudi Arabia hosted a session between  
Afghan officials and the Taliban last month at the request of Afghan  
President Hamid Karzai, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said  
Tuesday.

The officials met in the city of Mecca and attended an iftar, the  
evening meal that ends the fast between sunrise and sunset during the  
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to several people who attended  
the session.

Saud said Saudi Arabia hosted the meeting because it is "interested in  
security and peace in Afghanistan."

"But the matter rests with the Afghans themselves," he said. "If we  
felt from the Afghans that there is a desire to solve problems . . .  
there will be [mediation] attempts. But if we don't see any response,  
then it will be difficult to find a way to get involved in the matter."

Saud spoke after a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief  
Javier Solana in which the two discussed, among other issues, the  
deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Saud's confirmation of the session comes amid a wave of violence in  
Afghanistan. In the past week, Taliban fighters killed 30 people after  
hijacking a bus in the southern province of Kandahar, and gunmen shot  
dead a foreign aid worker on the streets of Kabul, the capital.

According to participants, the session included several Pakistani  
officials, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif, who  
now leads the largest opposition bloc in Pakistan's Parliament, has  
been a vocal advocate of negotiating with Taliban commanders in his  
country.

Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, attended  
the meeting and said there was no discussion of peace talks. Zaeef  
said Karzai's government missed an opportunity when it failed to  
engage the Taliban in talks three years ago. Since then, he said, the  
Taliban has grown stronger. "Before, the Taliban had no hope that the  
American rule would collapse here," he said. "Now, they have hope."

While Taliban forces appear to have gained the upper hand across large  
swaths of Afghanistan, dissension and dissatisfaction among some  
members could provide an impetus for talks.

"There are some in the Taliban that believe that negotiations are the  
only way," Zaeef said.

Rondeaux reported from Kandahar.