Taliban, Afghan officials meet in Saudi Arabia

Even after the Taliban's ouster, Saudi Arabia kept doors open for Taliban members to make the annual hajj, or Muslim pilgrimage.

While al-Qaida leader bin Laden, a Saudi, has frequently railed against the U.S.-allied kingdom, his sympathizers among the Afghan Taliban have been muted in their criticism.

Ahmadi, the Taliban spokesman, said Monday that the militant group is independent from al-Qaida. The U.S. and other Western countries will never accept a peace deal with al-Qaida, the group behind 9/11. That could provide incentive for Taliban leader Mullah Omar to cement his independence from bin Laden's group.

Zaeef said former Afghan Supreme Court Chief Justice Fazel Hadi Shinwari was among the government representatives present at the Iftar. He also said Bismillah Khan, Afghan army chief of general staff, was in Saudi Arabia, though it wasn't clear if he was part of the group that met with Abdullah.

Rising insurgency
News of the alleged Saudi meeting came on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion that ousted the Taliban for harboring bin Laden. U.S. forces first launched airstrikes in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York.

U.S. troops, with help from Northern Alliance militia members from Afghanistan's north, quickly pushed the Taliban out of Kabul and their southern stronghold in Kandahar, leading some U.S. officials to declare the Afghan fight a quick and easy victory.

But that original military success has turned into an increasingly violent counterinsurgency fight in recent years.

An unprecedented number of U.S. troops — about 32,000 — are in Afghanistan today, and the Pentagon plans to send several thousand more forces in the coming months. At least 131 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan this year, as have 100 troops from other NATO nations.

U.S. officials have not indicated they are ready for any contacts with high-level Taliban leaders, though U.S. officials do encourage fighters to lay down arms and join the government's reconciliation program.

However, a senior British commander, Brig. Mark Carleton-Smith, was quoted over the weekend as saying that a decisive military victory in Afghanistan is impossible and that the Taliban may well be part of a long-term solution for peace.

The Afghan government began registering voters on Monday for next year's presidential polls, an election likely to be the most dangerous and challenging since the Taliban ruled the country. Karzai is seeking a second term.

A Taliban spokesman said the militia will not participate, and he warned other Afghans not to.

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