Afghans head home seeking martyrdom
Afghans leave Saudi Arabia to join jihad against US
Thousands of Afghan men are leaving Saudi Arabia to join the holy war against the United States after the Saudi monarchy ordered all Afghan diplomats to leave their country.
The monarchy said it plans to cut all ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban Government in light of its refusal to extradite Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks in America.
About 200,000 Afghan men live in Saudi Arabia and thousands of them have sought to renew their passports so the can return home and join the jihad.
Afghan Embassy workers in Riyadh told the crowd the choice is theirs but their country needs them.
‘‘I would love to die as a martyr and I have already informed my family of my intentions,’’ said Akhtar Mohammed, 18, from Kabul, eagerly reclaiming his passport from embassy staff in Riyadh.
‘‘They were very proud of me,’’ he added.
Staff worked through piles of royal-blue Afghanistan passports, hurrying to complete paperwork for as many of the men as possible before they themselves were forced to leave Saudi Arabia tomorrow.
Saudi Arabia yesterday ordered the Afghan Embassy in Riyadh closed within 48 hours.
After years in Saudi Arabia, many needed to renew their passports to return home. Others came to seek counsel from the diplomats on their next move.
Workers from the seven-member embassy staff exhorted the crowd telling the men the choice was theirs but their country needed them.
‘‘It is our duty to defend our country and our people,’’ said charge d’affaires
Molawi Muttiallah.
‘‘And God willing, I too am going back for that same purpose.’’
Diplomats inside the yellow villa where the embassy is housed scrambled to complete work and pack up for their departure.
Outside the embassy, men said they were ready for war. Fierceness and defiance fuelled during Afghanistan’s Soviet occupation of the 1980s, and nurtured in generations of conflict before and after, spilled out in martial words.
‘‘We were born in war and we will die in one. We are ready for jihad,’’ or holy war, declared Dawood Nazer.
‘‘We don’t fear America or war,’’ said Nazer, the father of four. ‘‘We fear only God.’’
‘‘Let America come. We will be ready for them,’’ said Deedar Khan, 37. ‘‘We are born warriors, and we will die as martyrs.’’
