US confirms Saudi role in talks with Taliban
WASHINGTON: US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has initiated a dialogue with the Taliban and that the United States would support any Saudi initiative.
Separately, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the United States is open to the prospect of Afghan governments talks with elements of the Taliban, but she advised Kabul officials to proceed cautiously.
As far as the Saudis go, (Afghan) President (Hamid) Karzai mentioned them by name in his speech. Its well known that he asked King Abdullah to play a role here, said Holbrooke when asked if the Saudis had initiated a dialogue with the Taliban.
I have talked to the Saudis. Ive been to Riyadh. I talked to King Abdullah about it myself. We would be supportive of anything that the kingdom chose to do in this regard, he added, while explaining how the United States viewed the Saudi-sponsored talks.
Asked if the British were also involved in these talks, Holbrooke said: I cant speak about the British. You have to ask them.
Meanwhile, Saudi newspaper Al Watan reported on Tuesday that the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Gen Karl Eikenberry, held talks with the former Taliban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mulla Mutawakil, in Kabul.
They exchanged views of their governments with the goal of ending the Afghan war.
The US ambassador offered to recognise the Taliban rule in several provinces, including Kandahar, Helmand, Arzakan, Kunar, and Nuristan.
In return, the US ambassador demanded that the militants stop their attacks on US forces and bases in the country.Mulla Mutawakil is now expected to convey the US initiative to Taliban leader Mulla Omar through his adviser Mulla Brader Akhond.
On Monday, DawnNews reported that high-level talks with senior Taliban militants were currently under way, indicating that the Obama administration might reverse course on its Afghan strategy which previously ruled out such contacts with the militants.
The indirect talks involve officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Britain, and top Afghan Taliban leadership, including the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen chief and Abdullah Anus, among others.
Diplomatic sources told Dawn in Washington that so far only middle rank Taliban leaders had come forward to participate in the talks. Any decisions made by these leaders will not have a major impact on the Taliban insurgency.
Besides, one of the negotiators, Samarai, was closely linked to Al Qaeda and the US would be reluctant to support any talks that involve Al Qaeda militants.
The sources also said the US ambassadors talks with Mullah Mutawakil might also fail to produce results.
Mullah Mutawakil, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, and Mullah Mohamed Tayeb Agha are looked upon by the Taliban leaders with disdain after they surrendered to the US early in the war.
Holbrooke, on the other hand, said the United States had had no direct contact with the Taliban but that it supported Saudi efforts, requested by President Karzai, to broker peace contacts between the Afghan sides.
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