Egypt contact Taliban for halting destruction of statutes
Egypt-Afghanistan, Culture, 3/10/2001

Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan is carrying out intensive contacts with Afghani officials in Taliban on the issue of destroying ancient statues.

Meanwhile, Friday's Kuwaiti newspapers shed light on President Hosni Mubarak's decision to dispatch an envoy to Afghanistan to dissuade the leadership there from destroying ancient statues.

Kuwaiti newspapers quoted Foreign Minister Amr Moussa as having said that the high-level envoy will undertake this task on the heels of several contacts received by President Mubarak, particularly from UNESCO Director Koishiro Matsura, to intervene to rescue the statues that represent a legacy of mankind.

"Moussa said that the decisions in Afghanistan must be reconsidered, noting Egypt's Mufti terming the Afghan decision as "wrong" and does not represent application of the Islamic Sharia (code)," the paper added.

"Meanwhile, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia on Thursday blasted away with explosives the upper half of one of the two gains statues of Buddha in Bamyan," Kyodo said on Friday.

Quoting reliable sources, the agency said the Taliban carried out the explosion but it did not specify which one of the two statues was blown up.

The two rock-hewn Buddhas in Bamyan, about 100 kilometers northwest of Kabul, date back to the fifth century. According to AIP, the upper half and part of the lower body have been destroyed and only the middle part of the statues remains.

A three-member Japanese parliamentary delegation was on its way to Kandahar, Afghanistan from Pakistan to plead with the Taliban to spare the two towering Buddha statues.

On the other hand, The United Nations General Assembly rebuked Afghan Taliban government because of its decision to destroy human heritage and the oldest Buddhist statues in Afghanistan.

A resolution issued by the Assembly, which includes representatives of all member states at the international organization, expressed shock over Taliban's decision to demolish the statues.

On the other hand, Iran's representative at the General Assembly accused Taliban movement of arrogance and lack of vision, adding that Taliban's action contradicts the Islamic Sharia (law).

Pakistan's representative expressed opposition to Taliban stance, pointing out that the UN sanctions on Afghanistan had resulted in its isolation from the international community.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco deplores destruction of human legacy as aggression against universal culture   (3/9/2001)

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