WASHINGTON — The kingdom of Saudi Arabia threw its weight behind the Afghan government’s attempts to kindle a peace process with the Taliban this week, reflecting growing international pressure to bring Afghanistan’s long war to a negotiated end.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Saudi government said King Salman supported Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s recent ceasefire with the Taliban, the militant group that has continued to pose a threat to the Afghan state despite 17 years of international military involvement.
The king said “that the brotherly Afghan people, who suffered a great deal from the war, aspire, along with the rest of the Muslim world, to close the previous chapter and open a new page based on tolerance, reconciliation, rejecting violence … and mending fences between brothers.”
He also called for the extension of a truce with the Taliban.
The Saudi statement comes as President Donald Trump’s administration redoubles its effort to establish an authentic political process between the warring parties in Afghanistan.