Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he has asked the king of Saudi Arabia to help facilitate peace talks with the Taliban in order to bring an end to the Afghan conflict.
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Karzai said there have not yet been any negotiations, only requests for help. But he said that Afghan officials have traveled to both Saudi Arabia and to Pakistan in hopes of ending the conflict.
"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.
Speaking on the grounds of the presidential palace, where he gave his traditional message to Afghans for the Muslim religious holiday of Eid-al Fitr, Karzai said his government is trying to encourage militants to lay down arms.
He underscored that he has in the past reached out to Taliban leader Mullah Omar to "come back to your home soil and work for the happiness of the people."
Afghan officials have long tried reaching out to the Taliban and other militant officials in hopes of sparking peace talks. But those efforts - including efforts by Karzai's administration - have largely been rebuffed.
The fugitive Taliban leader Omar, meanwhile, released his own Eid message and launched a barrage of accusations against Afghanistan's security forces, calling them thieves, smugglers and criminals not worthy of people's trust.
Omar's message did not include any indication of willingness to talk to Karzai's government. Instead, it called again on foreign troops to leave the country.
A former senior Taliban official told The Associated Press last week that the militants do not consider Karzai a strong leader who can uphold and implement any potential deal if the U.S. does not agree with it. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be identified.
American officials have not indicated they are ready for any contacts with high-level Taliban leaders, though U.S. officials do encourage militants to lay down arms and join the Afghan government's reconciliation program.
An Afghan opposition leader, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, told The Associated Press earlier this year that Afghan political leaders have been meeting with Taliban and other anti-government groups in hopes of negotiating peace.
The contacts took place between leaders of the opposition National Front party and "high level" militant leaders.
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