Taliban Rejects UN Demand to Stop Statues DestructionThe ruling Afghan Taliban's official Wednesday rejected the U.N. Security Council's demand to stop ongoing destruction of ancient Buddhist statues.In response to the UNSC's appeal for immediately halting the destruction, Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef said here that the process of destruction would continue despite world outcry for "they were un-Islamic and we have destroyed them." He said that 25 percent of the two giant Buddhas in the central Bamiyan province had been done and the remaining would be completed after Eid (Muslim festivals) was over. Zaeef said, however, Taliban have not destroyed the statues to show hostilities against any other country or any other religious community. "It is not a decision by an individual but has been taken by the religious scholars, confirmed by the Supreme Court and approved by Amir ul Monineen (the title used for Taliban supreme leader Mulla Omar," explained Zaeef, who reiterated the position by other Taliban officials. |
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