RIYADH – In a rare gesture, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called upon the Afghan Taliban to put down arms for ending the long-standing war.
The Oil-rich kingdom has asked Afghan Taliban to recognise the government in Kabul as the Holy Land is set to host an international conference of Islamic scholars for peace, security and national reconciliation in Afghanistan in Jeddah and Makkah on July 10 and 11; the moot is poised to issue a decree against the war.
This is the first time Saudi Arabia and the OIC have taken part in the Afghan conflict with the conduction of moot that has rung alarm bells in Kabul, with some of them claiming that the United States has pressed Saudis to hold the event.
The Taliban consider that the Americans want through these conferences to “find justification for their military occupation, legitimise their stooge Kabul administration and thus weaken the resistance of Afghan Muslim nation being put up against them”.
According to leading Pakistani paper, Daily Times, an invitation letter has been sent to scholars in Pakistan and Afghanistan in which all armed groups in Afghanistan have been declared terrorists; the letter is signed by Yousef A Al-Othaimeen, OIC secretary-general and a former Saudi cabinet minister.
The invitation says that the main purpose of the conference is to reject the “erroneous interpretations of Islamic views by terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan”.
It says that the OIC is committed to peace, security, stability and development of all member states, including Afghanistan adding that a number of OIC summits and Council of Foreign Ministers (CFMs) had mandated the OIC General Secretariat to organise the conference.
Scholars from over 30 countries have been invited to attend the conference that can be a major boost for embattled President Ghani, who had made an offer to Taliban to put an end to the war- an offer that was brushed aside by the militant group.
Scores of Pakistani scholars are not sure about attending the moot; a senior scholar, Peer Aziz ur Rehman Hazarvi, who was part of an earlier meeting has confirmed that he won’t attend the Saudi moot.
Moreover, Allama Tahir Ashrafi, head of the Pakistan Ulema Council, said he won’t attend the Saudi conference, citing health reasons.
However, Maulana Fazal ur Rehman Khalil, who heads Ansar ul Ummah group will travel to the Kingdom for the conference.
Other participants who will attend the conference include the chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology and some Pakistani members of the Islamic University Islamabad.
The role of OIC in Afghan peace process had been zero since the US and its NATO allies invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, however, the renewed efforts might press the outlawed group to enter into negotiations with Ghani regime.
