...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
will not attend planned peace talks with the United States in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
this month and want to shift the venue to Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...The upcoming negotiations, the fourth in a series aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, are scheduled between the leaders of the Taliban and US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to discuss the withdrawal of foreign forces and a possible ceasefire in 2019.
Taliban leaders have rejected the Kabul government's offer for direct talks, despite growing international pressure in favour of the Western-backed Afghan government having a seat at the table.
"We were supposed to meet US officials in Riyadh next week and continue our grinding of the peace processor that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi last month," a senior Taliban member based in Afghanistan told Rooters news agency on condition of anonymity.
"The problem is that leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates [UAE] wanted us to definitely meet the Afghan government delegation, which we cannot afford to do now, and we have cancelled the meeting in Saudi Arabia," he said.
The Taliban want to change the venue for the talks to Qatar, he added, the political headquarters of the group.
Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the group decided to cancel the meeting in Saudi Arabia, but did not provide information about a new meeting venue.
The United States Embassy in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.