Taliban Destroys Buddhist Statues Despite International InterventionUNESCO Director-general Koichiro Matsuura on Monday confirmed the final and down-to-earth demolition of Buddhist statues in central Afghanistan."The Taliban has never taken into consideration either unprecedented international mobilization or opposing voices from the highest authorities of the Islamic religion," said Matsuura. He said the Buddhist statues in the country have been destroyed by hands, hammers or rocket fires and two of them, believed to be unique and tallest of their kind, are now nothing but ruins at the foot of the cliffs where they had stood for about a thousand years. Both condemnation documents from all over the world and mediation trips from powerful organizations seemed in vain in the past two weeks. Matsuura, head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, started mobilizing the Islamic world since February 26 when Taliban ordered to smash what they called " idols insulting Islam". He also sent Pierre Lafrance, former French ambassador to Pakistan and Iran and expert on Islamic issues, to Kabul to talk with Taliban leaders. |
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