Karzai asks help to Saudi King Abdullah

"Two days after the responsable for British forces in Afghanistan has said not to be possible a military victory on the ground, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, refused this "defeatism". But the chief of the Pentagon agreeded, after all, with the inference of Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith that the solution to the conflict is through dialogue with the Taliban.

"While we face significant challenges in Afghanistan, there is no reason to be defeatist or to minimize chances of success in the long term," Gates told the press that accompanied him on the flight from Washington to Budapest.

Gates agreeded, however, that part of the solution to the conflict involves discussions with members of the Taliban who want to work with the government in Kabul. And said: "What we saw in Iraq applies to Afghanistan," a reference to Sunni tribes who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq and stand with the Executive of Bagdad.

The day before, several international newspapers gave account on the one hand, a possible rupture between the Taliban and al-Qaeda and on the other side, the existence of negotiations in Saudi Arabia between senior representatives of the Taliban - that aren't Mullah Mohammed Omar - and the Afghan government. These talks have arisen following a call by Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, to the Taliban and to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia so that, in some way, they would help to dialogue. In the speech he made at the end of Ramadan, Karzai made it clear to the Afghan people that he had made those calls - which did not please everyone even though the objective of the President is to pacify the country or, as some Afghan media says, to please the conservatives.

British daily the Guardian, BEHZAD Ahmad, a member of Herat Province, said that negotiations mean that the government and the international community accepted the defeat in the face of terrorism. | "

Source: http://dn.sapo.pt/2008/10/08/internacional/gates_aceita_dialogo_talibas_...