Saudi hosts Taliban talks to stabilise Pakistan

[was]

Saudi hosts Taliban talks to stabilise Pakistan
Andrew Hammond


RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is mediating between Taliban and Afghan officials to prevent its ally Pakistan from sliding into militant violence and to wean the Taliban away from al-Qaeda, diplomats said on Wednesday.
They said Saudi Arabia is worried that extremist forces including the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies are succeeding in destabilising neighbouring Pakistan, a crucial US and Saudi ally where the militant groups are also present.
Taliban and Afghan officials attended an iftar, or breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, in the holy city of Makkah last month in the presence of King Abdullah.
Both Afghan parties have denied the meeting amounted to reconciliation talks, but Riyadh-based diplomats and a well-placed Saudi analyst said Riyadh was hoping to break the Taliban's link to al-Qaeda for fear of Pakistan's future.
'They want to help because Pakistan is frightening. They fear what could happen in Pakistan. This (mediation) is to stabilise Pakistan,' said one diplomat privy to details of the Makkah talks who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Saudi mediation effort followed US and British statements encouraging dialogue with the Taliban.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the United States would be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban if the Afghan government pursued talks to end the conflict in Afghanistan.
Britain's military commander in Afghanistan, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, and the top UN official in the country have said the war in Afghanistan cannot be won militarily, and that talks with the Taliban will be crucial to ending the conflict.
The foreign diplomatic sources said Saudi external intelligence chief Prince Muqrin and others played a role in arranging the mediation, which is at an early stage.
Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries to recognise Afghanistan's Taliban government before it was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001 following the September 11 attacks which were carried out by the Taliban's al-Qaeda allies.
Another diplomat said the Saudi idea was to entice the Taliban away from hardline elements wedded to the alliance with al-Qaeda, whose ideology backs suicide bombings in a war against western-allied Muslim leaders deemed infidels.
Al-Qaeda, led by Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, launched a campaign to topple the Saudi royals in 2003, which security forces brought under control. The violence challenged the ideological underpinnings of al Saud rule, which is based on legitimacy provided by the Saudi clerical establishment.
Jamal Khashoggi, editor of Saudi newspaper al-Watan and confidant of former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal, said the Afghans met Saudi leaders, intelligence officials and religious scholars, including influential Egyptian cleric Yousef al-Qaradawi.
'The problem is not the presence of the Taliban, it's the tactics of al-Qaeda and that's what could destroy Pakistan if that sort of dogma takes root,' Khashoggi said, adding this was the first such Saudi contact with the Taliban since 2001.
'I don't think whoever started this project wants it to be just a one-shot thing,' he said. 'It's in the Saudi national interest, the situation in Pakistan is getting really bad.'

http://www.dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect...+hosts+taliban+talks+to+stabilise+pakistan+qs

 

[was]

Rehman offers to mediate between Taliban and govt
By Ahmed Hassan

ISLAMABAD: JUI (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Thursday demanded immediate stoppage of military operation, warned against continued use of force in tribal and settled areas of NWFP and offered to play intermediary if the government shows sincerity in talks with the Taliban militants to bring peace to the region.
His statement coincides with the fresh offer of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Omar to lay down arms and entering into unconditional talks with the government, provided a ceasefire is announced by the Pakistan army in tribal areas.
The in-camera joint sitting witnessed another lackluster day with the absence of majority of the lawmakers from the proceedings with the majority of remaining lawmakers also leaving one by one to ultimately leave only 30 to 35 members sitting till the end which forced the speaker to announce adjournment till Friday morning before completion of the speeches of all parliamentary leaders.

Majority of the speakers from PML (N), JUI (F), PML (Q) and Fata favoured dialogue and against use of military might to eliminate militancy from tribal areas and strongly advocated for change in the policy that was given by an individual to prolong his own rule ignoring national interest and peoples aspirations.

The sources said that the government was maneuvering to bring a unanimous resolution at the end of the ongoing in-camera sitting for which a behind the scene exercise has already begun, Prime Minister Gianni’s meeting with JUI (F) was part of the same.
Maulana Fazlur Rahman, who announced he would provide a ‘real’ briefing if allowed by the speaker to speak his heart, was given a maximum time of about one and half hours. Only Raza Rabbani spent as much time speaking, sources said.

The first speaker of the day, the Maulana said ‘We have saw that the policy of crushing insurgency with might has failed ever since it was launched following 9/11 and it was high time for the new government to shun this policy’.

The JUI (F) chief asserted, ‘If America and Afghan president Hamid Karzai can enter into dialogue with Afghan Taliban militants through using Saudi government’s good office, why can’t we do the same with our people’,
JUI (F) chief rejected the details that were provided to the house by the government through pictures and slides saying the people knew even more than what was shown to the parliamentarians during last four days.

‘You have seen the results of use of force and it is time you witness the power of dialogue’, said the Maulana, supporting the efforts that were underway for appeasing the militants to end fighting and come to the talks.
Leader of the house in the Senate Raza Rabbani, however, refuted allegations that the government was simply pursuing the policies of former president Gen. Retd. Pervez Musharraf in war on terror, insisting that the PPP government had its own direction and vision which it was implementing.

He refused to agree with the notion that a consensus among the parliamentarians cannot be reached in the current joint sitting, adding that he had compiled during the proceedings 10 such points on which almost all the lawmakers had convergence of opinion and these can become basis for formulation of future policy on security strategy.
Sen. Kamil Ali Agha, leader of opposition in Senate from the PML (Q), first objected to the allowing of Maulana Fazal to speak on his turn, and then proposed that a committee comprising on equal representation of treasury and opposition lawmakers be constituted which should review Pakistan’s policy in war on terrorism and propose a consensus resolution to be adopted at the end of current session which should be binding on the government in implementation of future policy.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, leader of opposition in the National Assembly and parliamentary leader of the PML (N), came down very hard on the government for providing half-cooked briefing and concealing facts from the parliament.

Munir Orakzai, parliamentary leader of the Fata parliamentary group, also spoke against constant use of force against the militants and joined voice for entering into dialogue with those who were resisting army operation.


DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Rehman offers to mediate between Taliban and govt

 

[Imran Khan]

wich taliban we say afghan or ttp because mulla umer kick baullah from taliban already

 

[mujahideen]

Well if the Taliban want to talk with out any preconditions attached then we should talk to them. I mean the Americans are now also talking to them why shouldn't we. If it will stablize Pakistan then I have no problem with it.