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Buddha cries as Kabul tanks roll out

From: MOHAMMED GUL
EMail: bookwormz_99@yahoo.com

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Buddha cries as Kabul tanks roll out ==================================== (BY MOHAMMED GUL)

Kabul, March 1: Using everything from tanks to rocket launchers, Taliban troops began the destruction of all statues in the country, including two 5th century statues of Buddha carved into a mountainside in central Bamiyan province.

"The implementation of Mullah (Mohammed) Omar's order to destroy statues began this morning," Qadratullah Jamal, the Taliban's information minister told reporters in Kabul.

On Monday, Mullah Omar, the Taliban's supreme leader, ordered all statues destroyed saying images, such as pictures and statues, were country to Islam. The Taliban, who rule about 95 per cent of Afghanistan, espouse a strict brand of Islamic law.

"The destruction work began in Kabul, Jalalabad, Heart, Kandahar, Ghazni and Bamiyan," he said. "All officials, including the ministry of vice and virtue, have been given the go ahead to destroy the statues. The destruction work will be done by any means available to them."

Afghanistan's ancient Buddhas are located in Bimiyan, about 125 km west of Kabul. One Buddha, measuring 53 metres, is said to be the world's tallest statue in which Buddha is standing up rather than sitting. The smaller is 37 metres tall.

As well as the giant statues of Buddha, Afghanistan's Kabul Museum contains hundreds of pieces of Buddhist statues and artwork, which Jamal said will be destroyed. "All the statues all over the country will be destroyed," he said.

There are an estimated 6,000 pieces of Buddhist artwork in the Kabul Museum, said Ms Brigitte Neubacher, spokesperson for the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage in neighboring Pakistan. For the past three months her organisation has been receiving reports and rumours that Taliban soldiers were destroying pre-Islamic artefacts. "We had been hearing rumours and we raised our concerns with the Taliban authorities," she said.

International outrage greeted the order to destroy the statues. Even the Taliban's closest ally, Pakistan----one of only three countries to recognise the Taliban--pleaded for the preservation of the ancient works of art. "We appeal to the Afghan government to take measures to fully protect Afghanistan's rich historical monuments, sites and artefacts, which are part of the world's cultural heritage," said a statement issued on Thursday by the Pak foreign ministry. "We hope Afghan government will show spirit of tolerance enjoined upon by Islam as well as respect for international sentiment," the statement said.-----------(AP)

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Last changed: March 02, 2001