Karazai Seeks Saudi help to hold Talks with Taliban.

[GoateMass]

Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, has said he is seeking help from Saudi Arabia to facilitate talks with the Taliban in order to end the conflict in the country.

Karzai said on Tuesday, in his traditional message to mark the Muslim Eid-al-Fitr holiday, that he was trying to encourage the group, which was forced from power by a US-led invasion in 2001, to lay down their arms.

He denied a report in Britain's Observer newspaper which said that negotiations had already taken place in Saudi Arabia and were backed by Britain.

"There have been no negotiations in Saudi Arabia. If any negotiations take place, it will be in our own land," he said.

'Help us'

"For the last two years, I've sent letters to the king of Saudi Arabia and I've sent messages, and I requested from him as the leader of the Islamic world, for the security and prosperity of Afghanistan and for reconciliation in Afghanistan ... he should help us,'' Karzai said.

continue reading here...

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/as...111987557.html

Edit
Actually this is not the first time Karazi tries to hold talks with Taliban.
It seems to give more leverage to Saudi as a Muslim peace negotiator, as it has held in Saudi talks before with Palestinian factions as well as other talks..

check out this academic paper if you like about regional Arab diplomacy
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/pub...g=zgp&proj=zme

[EOY]

lol, I'm sure the Taliban absolutely adore the king and they'll immediately do as he says.

I'm also sure that the king is the leader of the Islamic world.

The Taliban's gonna be like "lulz, IED* Mubarak!"

Clever play on words joke. "Eid Mubarak" is a phrase that Muslims use to wish each other a happy Eid (eid means holiday). IED, on the other hand, means Improvised Explosive Device.

[SYRIANKID]

I love how puppet governments appeal to each other for help against a population that hates their guts. Karzai should have also asked Iraq's Maliki for help. They can email each other back and forth from their sieged fortresses. Karzai, the man with the bullet-proof turban.

[GoateMass]

No matter how much some folks Hate Saudi for their political flaws. Saudi still remains as one of very few countries in the Middle East and Muslim world that rose from a non-colonialist context ( unlike say Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq) all of its initiations and governance have been created indigenously , In fact Saudi was going to expand to engulf surrounding countries.

And that is why they like Yemen and Oman who were never colonialised keep to maintain their cultural identities and have traditional forms of governance.

[SYRIANKID]

Originally Posted by GoateMass

No matter how much some folks Hate Saudi for their political flaws. Saudi still remains as one of very few countries in the Middle East and Muslim world that rose from a non-colonialist context ( unlike say Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq) all of its initiations and governance have been created indigenously , In fact Saudi was going to expand to engulf surrounding countries.

And that is why they like Yemen and Oman who were never colonialised keep to maintain their cultural identities and have traditional forms of governance.

Saudi Arabia is intellectually and politically colonized. It hasn't made an independent decision since the 1920s. Everything they produce, everything they buy, every piece of writing they read...occured with approval from somewhere else.

I don't see what's so impressive about that. Other countries had to fight for their freedom while Saudi Arabia signed away its soul in oil like a typical traitorous country.

The history of Saudi Arabia is like the history of Jordan - founded on treachery.

[GoateMass]

Originally Posted by SYRIANKID

Saudi Arabia is intellectually and politically colonized. It hasn't made an independent decision since the 1920s. Everything they produce, everything they buy, every piece of writing they read...occured with approval from somewhere else.

I don't see what's so impressive about that. Other countries had to fight for their freedom while Saudi Arabia signed away its soul in oil like a typical traitorous country.

The history of Saudi Arabia is like the history of Jordan - founded on treachery.

While I do acknowledge that Saudi is full of flaws I would not go as far as what you are saying.... Remember that 1973 war would have not been possible if King Fasial did not initiate the oil embargo. there are many other somewhat minor events. of course nothing significant just like the rest of the Muslim countries..

intellectually however, Saudi is still one of very countries to maintain their cultural identity in the midst of global pressure of varios "rights" groups, they still support plenty of charitable projects all around the world despite restrictions made upon them, they still rule the country by what they deem as fit, their public offical speeches are still started in the Name of Allah and with peace and blessings upon the Prophet. the Scholars are not as influential like they were before but still have lines which are never crossed

not that Saudi is a major producer of anything, but saying they produce nothing is a bit of an exaggeration

its initial history is far more impressive than its current of which the current Emirs have given up the inital cause fosterd by Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhabi and Amir Saud that created order in Najd and put back respect in Hijaz.

those countries fought for their freedom and came up with what ? they were still inslaved ideologicalland and insistuationaly to their pre colonial legacy...
Saudi does not share that legacy and so as Iran to a lesser extent (and yemen and oman as i pointed out) to an extent and thats something worth pride of, you dont see much of inferiorly complex cultural elites like you see in other Arab countries that like to engage in western ways and language.

it was not built on treachery rather on a noble intention

Reform would not be a very difificult task in saudi unlike say Egypt or Jordan or others that came out of this post colonial legacy. the way Saudi came about was a very "natural way" as supposed to other countries where social and governance insistutions were layed before European invaders out of different contexts and wicked intentions.


if you read the paper I have linked at the post by Dr Marina Ottaway she points out from various recent events that a pattern is showing,, that leadership in the Middle East and Arab world is moving east to Saudi and then Qatar, and it seems like it will stay like that for a while the least.
---

O ye who believe! stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to Piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. [5;8]

[Weightaholic]

Appeasing lunatics has been tried before.

Ask Chamberlain how it went....

[SYRIANKID]

Originally Posted by GoateMass

While I do acknowledge that Saudi is full of flaws I would not go as far as what you are saying.... Remember that 1973 war would have not been possible if King Fasial did not initiate the oil embargo.

I don't want to have to teach you Middle East history, but King Faisal was an outlier, an exception who briefly went against a corrupt regime and was assasinated by the Saudis. Somebody who is studying political science should be a bit more skeptical of history. I wouldn't give Arabs the benefit of the doubt between 1900-2008.

"On March 25, 1975, Faisal was shot point blank and killed by his half-brother's son Faisal bin Musa'id, who had just come back from the United States. The murder occurred at a majlis, (Arabic for "sitting") an event where the king or leader opens up his residence to the citizens to enter and petition the king.

Prince Faisal Bin Musa'id was captured directly after the attack and declared officially insane. He was later found guilty of regicide and in June 1975 he was beheaded in the public square in Riyadh.[27]

Faisal was buried in Riyadh, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Khalid."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia

Saudi Arabia and many other countries in the Middle East are FAKE countries. Fake governments, fake policies, fake foreign policy, faked religious adherance.

[Thy_Kingdom]

Originally Posted by SYRIANKID

Saudi Arabia and many other countries in the Middle East are FAKE countries. Fake governments, fake policies, fake foreign policy, faked religious adherance.

So true.

[GoateMass]

Originally Posted by SYRIANKID

I don't want to have to teach you Middle East history, but King Faisal was an outlier, an exception who briefly went against a corrupt regime and was assasinated by the Saudis. Somebody who is studying political science should be a bit more skeptical of history. I wouldn't give Arabs the benefit of the doubt between 1900-2008.

"On March 25, 1975, Faisal was shot point blank and killed by his half-brother's son Faisal bin Musa'id, who had just come back from the United States. The murder occurred at a majlis, (Arabic for "sitting") an event where the king or leader opens up his residence to the citizens to enter and petition the king.

Prince Faisal Bin Musa'id was captured directly after the attack and declared officially insane. He was later found guilty of regicide and in June 1975 he was beheaded in the public square in Riyadh.[27]

Faisal was buried in Riyadh, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Khalid."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia

Saudi Arabia and many other countries in the Middle East are FAKE countries. Fake governments, fake policies, fake foreign policy, faked religious adherance.

obviously you dont know what yr talking about, and yr basing your conclusions on conspiracy theory aka no proof. bring forth your proof he was killed because "he went against the regime"

what I am aware of however, is that King Faisal was trying to "modernize" saudi so he was trying to introduce things like Radio and TV which didnt go well with the majority of Scholars at the time, the father of the man who shot King Faisal had a dispute with regarding such matters and was imprisoned and that boy saw that as shame and thus did what he did.
This is what you will find by Dr Donald Powel Cole who is the first anthropologist ever to do field research in Saudi Arabia.

Whether its "fake" (i.e based on ill intentions) or not its not my job as a poli sci student to judge that. rather this is a regime that was created very quickly and has held for quite a long time and is worth our attention. Either way they are still Muslimeen and unless you have something blatent that proves other wise then they remain legit.

you left the whole reply and leeched on one aspect of it. obviously your biases has skewed your objectivity that you see nothing good or benificial from that state. I am skeptical of what of the saudi regime of course, but im not blind to see their good points just as any other Islamic group regardless of their religious ideology.