Saudi Arabia halts Afghan mediation
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, says Riyadh has halted mediation efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban because the fundamentalist movement has refused to break ties with al-Qaeda.
Last February, Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent a small delegation of former Taliban members to Saudi Arabia to seek help in kick-starting talks with the Taliban. But the Saudis said the kingdom would not help unless the Taliban severed all ties with Osama bin Laden - a Saudi - and his al-Qaeda terror network. That is also a key demand of both the US and Afghanistan. (AP)
