Saudi Mediation: The Taliban's Last Chance

[EjazR]

Saudi Mediation: The Taliban's Last Chance

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's call for Saudi mediation between the Afghan government and the Taliban movement and tribal groups in order to achieve peace in the country is the right move but is long overdue. Saudi Arabia is the most capable country in the world of undertaking this role due to its position in the Islamic world and also because its mediation is internationally acceptable. The Taliban movement may have no way of breaking its international isolation other than by accepting Saudi mediation. This is the only opportunity open to the Taliban, and the Taliban must not throw this away, especially as Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries that recognized the Taliban regime. This was when the Taliban movement was working to protect the citizens of Afghanistan from the oppression of the Afghan warlords, resisting corruption and eradicating drug cultivation in the country. However when the Taliban took control of the majority of the country the movement became more extremist, restricting representations of modern life, and restricting women's rights, and even Afghan antiquities were not safe from this extremism and narrow-mindedness. However the most important and dangerous mistake made by the Taliban was to turn Afghanistan into a safe haven for terrorism and terrorists, this was a transformation that precipitated their clash with the international community, and resulted in their defeat following the September 11 attacks.

The statements made by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on President Karzai's request for Saudi mediation are logical, for he did not close the door on this, but stated that this request should be made by Afghanistan officially, and that the Taliban should confirm its intention to attend negotiations by cutting ties with terrorists. Prince Saud al-Faisal said the Taliban's sincere intentions to establish peace must begin with cutting its ties with militants, and ceasing to provide sanctuary to Osama Bin Laden. He said that it is not logical for Saudi Arabia to mediate a crisis between two parties, one of whom is providing a safe haven to terrorist groups that are hostile to Saudi Arabia and the world at large.

Karzai's call for Saudi mediation may hold the only hope for the Taliban to put an end to its [international] isolation, displacement, and pursuit. This is a good opportunity for the Taliban to improve its image, and rectify its mistakes and its relations with the international community, thereby becoming an acceptable component of Afghan society.

Will the Taliban survive, ending its alliance with the militants? Or will it continue in its obstinacy, clinging to the mistakes that it made in the past, collapsing – along with its allies – in a spiral of violence, the result of which is already a foregone conclusion?

If the Afghan government is asking for mediation with the Taliban today, then a Taliban rejection of this would limit the choices of the Afghan government and the world, and therefore the war against the Taliban movement and its allies would become inevitable, if this happens then the Taliban would have committed a fatal mistake.

 

[EjazR]

Another interesting OpEd questioning Saudi Arabia's role in Afghanistan by a Saudi Editor

Saudi Arabia: Rescue or Entanglement
By Tariq Alhomayed

This is not the first time that the Afghans have requested that Saudi Arabia intervene to end the conflict in their country, but is only the latest and most serious request, as can be seen by what the Afghan President said publicly during the London Conference last week. Karzai said that he looked forward to the "key role" that is played by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and revealing his vision for Afghan reconciliation said "we hope that His Royal Highness King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz consents to play the role of guiding and supporting this [reconciliation] process."

The question that must be asked today is: What is required from Saudi Arabia today; the rescue of Afghanistan, the US saving face, or is it Saudi Arabia becoming entangled in Afghanistan once again?

This comes after the so-called jihad against the Soviet Union, which was something that had its justifications at the time, in the same way that the Afghan request for Saudi intervention today is justified, particularly as this [request] comes from the Afghan President himself and the [political] parties. The experience of the Soviet invasion remains fresh in the minds of Saudi Arabians, especially as Saudi Arabia was helping Afghanistan at the time with the same help that Kabul is requesting today. However Riyadh ended up by being blamed [for what happened], and faced unfair attacks from Western and Arab media figures and politicians. It is true that there was a Saudi presence in Afghanistan during the Saudi invasion, but Saudi Arabia was not the only country present there, and it was not occupying Afghanistan.

Since some people have short memories or are trying to forget, let us recall the commends made by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal a few days ago on Afghanistan's request to King Abdullah for mediation. He described this as a "great compliment" but said that "unless the Taliban give up the issue of sanctuary to terrorists and [Osama] Bin Laden and ends its ties with him, I do not think that the negotiations will be positive or feasible of achieving anything." This is not a new Saudi position, and in fact this has been the Saudi position since before the September 11 attacks, and Prince Turki al-Faisal, who was the Saudi Intelligence Chief at the time, expended a great deal of effort trying to persuade the Taliban to stop sheltering Bin Laden and others, particularly as prior to this Saudi Arabia had revoked Bin Laden's nationality. Even before terrorism became the main item on the agenda of international forums, an Afghan reconciliation agreement existed, to put a stop to the fighting of Afghan tribes. This agreement took place in March 1993 in Mecca under the auspices of King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him, and this is evidence of Saudi Arabia's concern for Afghan stability, not supporting the extremists there.

It is natural that the Afghans would return today to request a Saudi Arabian [mediation] role, because the Afghans do not accept "the foreigner" while Saudi Arabia has an Islamic and political credibility that allows it to meet and negotiate with Karzai. However what concerns us today is exercising caution to ensure that Saudi Arabia does not become entangled once again in Afghan issues, especially as the West, and particularly the US, decided following the events of September 11 to say that the ball is in Riyadh's court [with regards to Afghanistan], as if they previously played no role in the country. Our fear is that history will repeat itself, albeit with different facts.