LONDON: In his quest to stabilise his country, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, dressed in white robes, arrived last week in Mecca on what can only be called a diplomatic pilgrimage. Although Karzai undoubtedly spent time praying at Islam's holiest site, his mission was intended to prove more than his piety.
So what diplomatic or financial gain was Karzai seeking? Why travel to Saudi Arabia at the very moment that US President Barack Obama's military surge has become operational? Can Saudi Arabia play a serious role in resolving his country's increasingly bloody conflict?
One card the Saudis can play is their severe Islamic ideology, which the Taliban shares. Indeed, the Saudis, backed by Pakistani military intelligence, nurtured the madrasas that educated the Taliban before their march to power in the 1990s.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia has been increasingly willing to use Mecca as a forum to attempt to resolve regional political disputes. In October 2006,for example, Mecca was used to host talks among Iraq's warring sectarian factions. In February 2007, the short-lived Palestinian government of national unity was created as the result of a summit there.
In October 2008, the Kingdom held mediation talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government following Karzai's request to King Abdullah, whom Karzai describes as "the leader of the Muslim world". The Taliban could not spurn an invitation to negotiate in Mecca.
http://newageislam.com/the-kingdom-and-the-afghan-chaos/war-on-terror/d/2490
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4:46 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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