Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has called for the Kingdom's help in restoring peace to his country, arrived Tuesday for talks in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. Karzai flew into Jeddah with a delegation and proceeded to Makkah to make the Umrah ahead of meetings with Saudi and regional officials Wednesday. He is to hold talks with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu before heading to Riyadh. On Wednesday Karzai is expected to meet King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Karzai is believed to be seeking Saudi help in negotiating a peace with the Taliban rebels as well development aid for Afghanistan. “To make our program a success we hope that His Majesty King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia will kindly play a role to guide peace and assist the process,” he told an international conference on war-torn Afghanistan in London last week. Karzai won backing for a new peace and reconciliation program with the Taliban at the London conference. Saudi Arabia pledged an additional $150 million in aid to Afghanistan at last week's London conference. The Kingdom has urged Karzai to find a political solution to the Taliban insurgency. But Riyadh has also said repeatedly they will not deal with the Taliban as long as the group helps protect Al-Qaeda. Karzai, whose uncle Azizullah Karzai is the Afghan Ambassador to Riyadh, is expected to stay in Saudi Arabia for three days.
