Hamid Karzai picks up threads of reconciliation with Taliban

NEW DELHI: Afghan president Hamid Karzai has restarted the reconciliation process with the Taliban, by announcing that Salahuddin Rabbani, head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council would visit Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to seek assistance. This announcement, made at the end of this week's Kabul conference is a sign that Karzai is picking up the threads of a political process that was shattered when the Taliban, with help from Pakistan's ISI, had assassinated the former council chief. Salahuddin is the son of the former chief, Burhanuddin Rabbani.