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Saudi Arabia Cuts Diplomatic Relations with Taliban
RIYADH, Sept 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Following in the footsteps of it's neighbor, Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it is severing ties with the Taliban, leaving Pakistan as the only country in the world recognizing the regime, news agencies reported.
The decision came three days after the United Arab Emirates severed relations with the Taliban, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Meanwhile, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan said Islamabad had no intention of following suit, even though it has withdrawn its entire embassy staff from Kabul, AFP said.
"Our position remains the same. There is no change," Khan said.
The decision of Saudi Arabia and the UAE came as U.S. forces stood poised to launch military strikes against Afghanistan, where the Taliban have refused to hand over Osama bin Laden - the chief U.S. suspect behind the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Khan reiterated that maintaining diplomatic ties with Kabul was a "geographical compulsion" for Pakistan - the main conduit for international humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
Khan has previously described the Afghan embassy in Islamabad as a vital "window to the world" through which the Taliban's communications with the international community were maintained.
In a statement released by the official Saudi News Agency, the Saudi government said: "The kingdom of Saudi Arabia stood with all of its ability beside the Afghani people while they were struggling for their independence, which gave Afghanistan a special status in the hearts of those who championed the nation's rights of freedom and independence until it regained its independence.
"It is unfortunate to see that the Taliban have used that special status for Afghanistan not for building the ties of brotherhood and for building and development and enforcing the lofty aims which Islam represents, but has made its land a center for attracting, training and recruiting a number of deceived people from different nationalities, especially citizens of the kingdom, in order to carry out criminal acts that violate any faith and creed, besides continuing to reject handing over those criminals to justice.
"In spite of what happened and what is happening, the Taliban government is still continuing to use its land to harbor, arm and encourage those criminals in carrying out terrorist attacks which horrify those who live in peace and the innocent and spread terror and destruction in the world. [It] leads to defaming Islam and defaming Muslims' reputation in the world.
"Since the Taliban disregard all of the contacts and the attempts that the kingdom has made to convince them to stop harboring criminals and terrorists and training them and inciting them and making its land a refuge and haven for them, [since] it did not respond to all exerted efforts and attempts in that concern, the last of which is the Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's call to the Taliban government, the government of the kingdom announces it is cutting all of its relations with the Taliban government, while affirming that it will continue standing by the Afghan people and will continue its support for everything that will achieve security, stability and prosperity for Afghanistan."
The move by one of the most influential nations in the Islamic world marks a major step forward for the United States in its efforts to put pressure on and isolate the Taliban.
However, the Saudi government insisted Tuesday that the impending U.S. war on terrorism must target Israel as well. The kingdom, home to Islam's holiest sites, has made no secret of its unease at Israel's continuing repression of the Palestinian Intifada, which has angered the Saudi public and was described as "state terrorism" by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab counterparts during a meeting in Jeddah Sunday.
In an overnight conversation, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz reminded U.S. President George W. Bush that the Palestinian issue remains a source of regional instability, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
"The Palestinian issue, which concerns all Arabs and Muslims, is a source of instability in the region," the prince said, urging the president to come up with a solution.
Saudi Arabia, Washington's major ally in the volatile Gulf, has become increasingly critical of the U.S.'s Middle East policies, regularly calling on the administration to curb Israeli aggression.
"The Palestinian people, who are the victims of all sorts of injustices, deserve international attention of the kind shown by the world after the September 11th attacks," the Saudi daily
al-Watan wrote Tuesday, summing up pro-Palestinian sentiment in the oil-rich kingdom.
Riyadh has pledged to cooperate in the war on terrorism, without specifying what that support might entail. The kingdom's caution over Washington's anticipated retaliation is fueling speculation about its readiness to physically join the military campaign by granting the U.S. additional military facilities.
The Washington Post has reported that Riyadh is resisting U.S. requests to use a new air control center in the kingdom to coordinate retaliation against Afghanistan and possibly against other Arab states. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell denied the
Post's report.
In Washington, Ari Fleischer, spokesman for U.S. President George W. Bush, told reporters hours after the decision was made public that, "The president praises and is grateful to the Saudi government for taking that wise step."
Saudi Arabia has been "nothing but cooperative," Bush said Monday.
"There's been no indication, as far as I'm concerned, that the Saudis won't cooperate once they understand exactly our mission."
Fleischer also thanked the UAE, which broke ties with the Taliban on Saturday, but stopped short of asking Pakistan - the last nation with diplomatic ties to the Islamic militia - to end that relationship.
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