Mubarak sends envoy to Kabul to discuss statues issue with Afghan leaders

The Egypt's Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that President Hosni Mubarak will dispatch a high-level envoy to Afghanistan in the next few days to discuss with Afghan leaders their decision to destroy some statues of Buddha.

Moussa told reporters that the envoy will undertake this mission after several calls received by President Mubarak, particularly from UNESCO Director Koishiro Matsura.

Mufti of the Republic Nasr Farid Wassel termed the Taleban's decision as wrong and does not express the spirit of Islam.

Intensive contacts are currently being made between officials at the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad and Ambassador of Afghanistan's ruling Taleban in Islamabad Mullah Salem Zaeef on the decision by the Islamic Militia to destroy all statues in Afghanistan particularly two Buddhist giants, after local clerics decided they were un-Islamic.

"Officials from the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad met on Wednesday with Zaeef to discuss the issue," well-informed sources said.

"The decision must be reconsidered as this man have negative effect on Islam in Afghanistan or elsewhere," said Moussa.

The contacts are expected to lead to positive results within the coming hours, given the high status which Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the Supreme Religious Institution in Egypt, enjoys among Afghan clerics.