KABUL – Afghan President Hamid Karzai, hoping to launch a peace initiative this year, left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to seek help from its king to reach out to the Taliban. Riyadh, one of only three capitals that recognised the Taliban while the Islamist militants were in power before their ouster in 2001, has said the group must deny sanctuary to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before it will act as a mediator. Saudi Arabia has helped arrange contacts between Karzai's government and Taliban representatives in the past and he called on the kingdom for help again at an international conference in London last week. Casualties among Afghan civilians and foreign troops reached record levels last year as Afghan and international forces fought a resurgent Taliban. Western nations, who have more than 110,000 troops in Afghanistan, have said the war cannot be won militarily and talks will have to be held eventually. Karzai is expected to hold talks with King Abdullah on "national reconciliation in Afghanistan and in the region" during his visit to Saudi Arabia, the presidential palace in Kabul said in a statement.
