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     | Friday, March 02, 2001 - 10:53 am Iconoclastic Taliban begin work in idol lands March 02 2001 at 11:09AM By Sayed Salahuddin Kabul - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban fired mortars and cannons at the world-famous, rock-hewn Buddhas at Bamiyan on Friday in defiance of international protests, sources said. A day after the radical Islamic movement announced it had begun destroying all statues in the 90 percent of Afghanistan it controls, an Afghan news agency also said the Taliban were also assembling explosives to blow up the two ancient monuments. Taliban sources in the capital said cannons and mortars were already being used. 'They are using any weapon they have got at the Buddhas' "They are using any weapon they have got on the Buddhas," said a Taliban official. "Explosives, such as gun powder, have also been placed beneath the statues for more effective action." The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted Taliban sources as saying explosives were being brought from other provinces. AIP, which has strong access to Taliban officials, said residents were being cleared from near the ancient statues - which soar 38m and 53m - but it did not know if they would be totally destroyed on Friday, the Muslim holy day. There was no official comment from the Taliban, who have rejected international appeals - including from Islamic countries - to save the country's rich cultural past at the heart of the ancient Silk Road. 'Islam respects other cultures' But Taliban officials had already made clear they would not be swayed from what they consider a duty to carry out the destruction of "idols" ordered by their leader, Mohammed Omar. Branding the Taliban's plans as "regression into mediaeval barbarism", India offered on Friday to look after the artefacts for all mankind. "If the Taliban do not wish to retain this inheritance, India would be happy to arrange for the transfer of all these artefacts for all mankind, in the full knowledge and clear understanding that they are, in the first place and above all, treasures of the Afghan people themselves," said Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh. In private, ordinary Afghans, and even some officials, criticised the order on Monday by the reclusive, one-eyed Taliban leader to destroy all statues. Among the sites targeted by the Taliban in its determination to create what it sees as the world's purest Islamic state are the two unique Buddhas hewn from a solid cliff and the collection of the national museum in Kabul. The Taliban, who have banned television and photography of people in areas under their control, ordered all shopkeepers to destroy any statues or pictures in their possession. International concern swelled into outrage on Thursday when the movement's culture minister said all methods of destruction would be employed to ensure no statues were left in Afghanistan. The Taliban decision to carry out their iconoclastic campaign was certain to reduce even further the movement's slim hopes of gaining international recognition as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Heavily criticised for its restrictions on women and accused of exporting Islamic militants, the Taliban are recognised as the government by only three states - Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The United Nations imposed fresh sanctions against the Taliban in January for harbouring Saudi militant Osama bin Laden and allegedly running "terrorist" training camps. Russia and the United States, two countries heading the opposition to the Taliban, both condemned the destruction of Afghanistan's heritage. "The Taliban's vandalism against material objects of the rich spiritual heritage of the ancient Afghan world shows their clear enmity to common human values," said Russia. The Taliban campaign triggered urgent demands for a halt. The United Nations cultural agency, Unesco, described it as a crisis for world heritage and urged Muslim nations to help halt the Taliban. Muslim Pakistan joined the international chorus while Pakistan's foe, India, earlier vowed to raise the issue in every international forums, including the United Nations. Germany's foreign ministry said: "Germany is appalled by the wilful destruction of cultural artefacts in Afghanistan. The damage to culturally unique Buddha statues by the Taliban cannot be justified." Countries with large numbers of Buddhists, such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal, were outraged at the efforts to eradicate all memory of the centuries when Afghanistan was a centre of Buddhist study and pilgrimage. "We condemn the reprehensible act of the Taliban and call upon the international community to join hands to preserve and safeguard the Buddhist monuments," said Nepalese Foreign Ministry spokesman Gyan Chandra Acharya on Friday. The Taliban campaign - launched after assurances that they would protect Afghanistan's pre-Islamic heritage - is an extreme interpretation of the Islamic injunction against drawing the human form. An Egyptian Muslim intellectual, Fahmi Howeidy, said the Taliban edict ran contrary to Islam. "Islam respects other cultures, even if they include rituals that are against Islamic law," said Howeidy in Cairo. Afghanistan has a sweeping history at the crossroads of Asia, facing innumerable invasions by people like Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. The best-known sculpture comes from the fusion of Greek and Asian traditions that influenced a succession of cultures over the 1 000 years following Alexander's conquest. - Reuters
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| | Friday, March 02, 2001 - 10:58 am I LOVE THIS. ARABS BEG AFGANISTAN PEOPLE TO LET THE IDOL STAND. !! .@LOL http://www.iol.co.za/html/frame_news.php?click_id=3 Arabs worldwide beg Taliban to spare Buddhas March 02 2001 at 06:45PM Paris - The Arab members of Unesco issued a joint statement on Friday condemning the "savage acts" of the Taliban militia in destroying pre-Islamic statues in Afgahnistan and urging "concrete action" from the international community. The Arab Group in the UN cultural body includes all 22 members of the Arab League, including Saudi Arabia, which is one of only four countries to recognise and support the Taliban's Islamic regime in Kabul along with Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. "The tragic and deplorable events in Afghanistan should inspire not just condemnation and reproof, but demand an international mobilisation based around concrete action in order to end this unprecedented enterprise, which affects the priceless tresures of our universal heritage," the statement said. "The Arab Group of Unesco condemns these savage acts and notes that successive Islamic governments in Afghanistan have preserved these masterpieces for 14 centuries," it said. 'This barbaric attitude of the Taliban constitutes a grave assault' "The Arab group considers that this barbaric attitude of the Taliban constitutes a grave assault on the dignity of man." The Arab Group's statement came after the director-general of Unesco, Koichiro Matsuura, said he had sent a special envoy to Afghanistan in a bid to persuade the Taliban authorities to stop the destruction. Meanwhile, in Islamabad, Pakistan made a fresh appeal on Friday to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement to stop destroying its mainly Buddhist statues. "The government of Pakistan joins all other nations in appealing to the Taliban government to reconsider the reported decision regarding the statues of Lord Buddha," a foreign ministry statement said. The statement was the second in two days urging the Taliban to reconsider its decision to destroy all historic statues in the areas of Afghanistan it controls. It said: "Respect for other religions and for their beliefs is enjoined upon Muslims." - Sapa-AFP and Reuters
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| | Friday, March 02, 2001 - 11:02 am http://www.iol.co.za/html/frame_news.php
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| | Friday, March 02, 2001 - 07:17 pm Interesting!
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| | Saturday, March 03, 2001 - 06:41 am Let them break all idol, Allah akbar Allah Akbar Allah Akbar,.... The prophet peace be upon him send the companions to break the idols, and call to la elah ela lah.. Its sad if muslim calling not to break the idol, Well we all going to stand in front of Allah, in the day you will be asked about what we said. Its amazing two status being breaked the BBC of shytan are talking... when millions and thousand of muslim get killed no one is talking...
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| | Saturday, March 03, 2001 - 12:12 pm Anonymous Dude, didn't the prophet say to be tolerant of other faiths and peoples? If Israel took control of Al Aqsa and all the Muslims were driven from the West Bank, and the Israelis decided to level the place and build a Temple, what would you say? These are ancient works, and based purely on their artifact status they should be preserved. If you want to be respected in this world, and you want people to have consideration for your beliefs, then you must do the same for others. Allowing these statues to stand does not equate with subscribing to idolatry. That means people are going to the statues and praying to them. Even then, that would, IAW Islam, have to be allowed because Islam specifically says other faiths must be respected. The Taliban edict is un-Islamic and was issued because they are not good Muslims. They do not respect the Qur'an or they would follow it's teachings. They are users - they use it to garner power and justify personal aggrandizement.
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| | Saturday, March 03, 2001 - 01:19 pm MAD MAC, SOME OF THE PLACES THE ISREALIS OCCUPY USED TO BE MOSQUES. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE MOSQUES? THE ISREALIS BULLDOZED THEM AND MADE THEM HOMES AND RESTAUANTS AND OTHER THINGS. AND FYI, WHEN THE PROPHET AND HIS FOLLOWERS GET HOLD OF MAKKA, THERE WERE 1000 OF IDOLS WHICH THE PROPHET ORDERED TO BE DESTERED.
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| | Saturday, March 03, 2001 - 07:04 pm Mad dog leave Taliban talk about the Criminal of the west... Why the world and these people making big deal about this... Its status, I mean Look USA boycote on the the iraq Iraq, where every year hundred thousands muslims and children used to die out of hunger, this is gencide and children used to die who used to speak about it?! Now they throwing bombs, do you think it will effect the Saddam USA they put Uranium on somali teenage and Nuclear waste in Somali until now many get infected and dying, Who is talking about ? none, but when some muslim want to do something break idol, they make and yell and call TV cast... The other thing These idols are in muslim Country on the hands of the muslims... As respect to those who practice this I will ask the people of knoweldge, who knows more than me, by the way how come these idol are not defending them self.. since they are religon to some people.
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| | Saturday, March 03, 2001 - 07:27 pm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=004452941505900&rtmo=LxlLythd&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/95/1/25/airb2501.jpeg http://www.texemarrs.com/101997/UNHELL.HTM http://www.newsworld.cbc.ca/archive/html/1997/06/30/belgium.html Belgian UN troops admit to 'roasting' Somali boy By Robert Fox and AFP TWO Belgian paratroopers who were photographed "roasting" a Somali boy over a flaming brazier are expected to be jailed for only a month and fined £200 after admitting the atrocity in a military court in Brussels yesterday. Privates Claude Baert and Kurt Coelus faced a maximum of a year in jail but the prosecutor demanded only a month. Sentence will be passed on Monday. The case against a third soldier accused of atrocities during the United Nations "Restore Hope" mission three years ago was adjourned until September. Sgt Dirk Nassel is accused of forcing a young Somali to eat pork, drink salt water, and then eat his vomit. The three soldiers were charged with assault and threatening behaviour. A fourth member of the 3rd battalion of the Parachute Regiment, based at Tielen in Flanders, is also due to go on trial in September. Sergeant Major Rudy Derkinderen is suspected of having murdered a Somali whom he was photographed urinating on. The circumstances surrounding the death of another child at the paratroopers' base near Kismayo in southern Somalia are also under investigation. According to the testimony of two former paratroopers, the boy, who had been caught trying to steal food, died after being locked in a container for 48 hours. The Defence Minister, Jean-Pol Poncelet, has promised that any of the paratroopers found guilty of criminal acts in Somalia will be dishonourably discharged. Baert has already left the army but Coelus is now in the navy and Nassel has remained at Tielen. Mr Poncelet has also ordered an inquiry to establish whether the incidents were part of a broader pattern of abuse of the local population. If it is, he has promised to disband the 3rd battalion. Fifteen members of the regiment were investigated in 1995 for "acts of sadism and torture" against Somalian civilians. One paratrooper has been sentenced to five years, following the murder of a Somalian youth, who allegedly had uncovered illegal arms trading by the paratroopers. Belgium is the third country involved in the "Restore Hope" mission to charge its soldiers for serious misdemeanours against Somalian civilians, including rape, torture and murder. In 1995 a group of Canadian paratroopers were investigated for torturing a Somali to death and killing three others. The charges of indiscipline, racism, and the rituals for new members of the unit led to the Canadian Airborne Regiment being disbanded last year. Earlier this month gruesome photographs were published in a Milan magazine of Italian soldiers torturing a young Somali youth, and abusing and raping a young Somali girl. Two Italian generals involved in "Restore Hope" have subsequently resigned to clear the way for a major investigation of the unit involved, the Folgore (Lightning) Division currently deployed on peacekeeping duties in Albania. The Italian parliament has set up a major investigation and boards of inquiry of the Italian army are at work. Paratroopers of the Folgore claim that they were specifically trained in methods of torture to aid interrogation. According to one witness Italian soldiers tied a young Somali girl to the front of an armoured carrier and raped her while officers looked on. The witness told investigators: "When the officers wanted to have fun, everybody went along with it." Over the weekend an interpreter with the Italian force in Somalia accused a Folgore battalion commander of sexually abusing a 13-year-old Somali youth. The "Restore Hope" mission has become the most controversial of all recent peacekeeping operations undertaken under the UN banner. It was mandated in 1992 to provide medical aid and food after civil order in Somalia collapsed following the overthrow of the Marxist dictator Maj Gen Muhammad Siad Barré, after a 17-year civil war. The operation was directed by an American admiral, and spearheaded by American Marines. After the murder of 20 Pakistani soldiers in an ambush and the killing and dragging of two American Marines through the streets of Mogadishu, the American command moved from peacekeeping to offensive operations against the warlords running the main Somali cities, principally Mogadishu and Kismayo. Though they used helicopter gunships and area bombardment, the Americans failed to defeat the leading warlord, Gen Muhammad Farrah Aidid, and eventually the UN forces were ordered to withdraw. A common thread through the accusations against the Belgian, Italian and Canadian forces, is the racism of elite units, particularly airborne units, and their inability to adapt to low-intensity peacekeeping operations. Last week an Italian paratrooper said: "What's the big deal? They are just niggers anyway." The head of the UN's peacekeeping department, Under Secretary General Bernard Miyet, said: "The image of the United Nations has been tarnished." Electronic Telegraph International News Tuesday 24 June 1997 Issue 760 Belgian UN troops admit to 'roasting' Somali boy By Robert Fox and AFP http://www.telegraph.co.uk TWO Belgian paratroopers who were photographed "roasting" a Somali boy over a flaming brazier are expected to be jailed for only a month and fined #200 after admitting the atrocity in a military court in Brussels yesterday. Privates Claude Baert and Kurt Coelus faced a maximum of a year in jail but the prosecutor demanded only a month. Sentence will be passed on Monday. The case against a third soldier accused of atrocities during the United Nations "Restore Hope" mission three years ago was adjourned until September. Sgt Dirk Nassel is accused of forcing a young Somali to eat pork, drink salt water, and then eat his vomit. The three soldiers were charged with assault and threatening behaviour. A fourth member of the 3rd battalion of the Parachute Regiment, based at Tielen in Flanders, is also due to go on trial in September. Sergeant Major Rudy Derkinderen is suspected of having murdered a Somali whom he was photographed urinating on. The circumstances surrounding the death of another child at the paratroopers' base near Kismayo in southern Somalia are also under investigation. According to the testimony of two former paratroopers, the boy, who had been caught trying to steal food, died after being locked in a container for 48 hours. The Defence Minister, Jean-Pol Poncelet, has promised that any of the paratroopers found guilty of criminal acts in Somalia will be dishonourably discharged. Baert has already left the army but Coelus is now in the navy and Nassel has remained at Tielen. Mr Poncelet has also ordered an inquiry to establish whether the incidents were part of a broader pattern of abuse of the local population. If it is, he has promised to disband the 3rd battalion. Fifteen members of the regiment were investigated in 1995 for "acts of sadism and torture" against Somalian civilians. One paratrooper has been sentenced to five years, following the murder of a Somalian youth, who allegedly had uncovered illegal arms trading by the paratroopers. Belgium is the third country involved in the "Restore Hope" mission to charge its soldiers for serious misdemeanours against Somalian civilians, including rape, torture and murder. In 1995 a group of Canadian paratroopers were investigated for torturing a Somali to death and killing three others. The charges of indiscipline, racism, and the rituals for new members of the unit led to the Canadian Airborne Regiment being disbanded last year. Earlier this month gruesome photographs were published in a Milan magazine of Italian soldiers torturing a young Somali youth, and abusing and raping a young Somali girl. Two Italian generals involved in "Restore Hope" have subsequently resigned to clear the way for a major investigation of the unit involved, the Folgore (Lightning) Division currently deployed on peacekeeping duties in Albania. The Italian parliament has set up a major investigation and boards of inquiry of the Italian army are at work. Paratroopers of the Folgore claim that they were specifically trained in methods of torture to aid interrogation. According to one witness Italian soldiers tied a young Somali girl to the front of an armoured carrier and raped her while officers looked on. The witness told investigators: "When the officers wanted to have fun, everybody went along with it." Over the weekend an interpreter with the Italian force in Somalia accused a Folgore battalion commander of sexually abusing a 13-year-old Somali youth. The "Restore Hope" mission has become the most controversial of all recent peacekeeping operations undertaken under the UN banner. It was mandated in 1992 to provide medical aid and food after civil order in Somalia collapsed following the overthrow of the Marxist dictator Maj Gen Muhammad Siad Barri, after a 17-year civil war. The operation was directed by an American admiral, and spearheaded by American Marines. After the murder of 20 Pakistani soldiers in an ambush and the killing and dragging of two American Marines through the streets of Mogadishu, the American command moved from peacekeeping to offensive operations against the warlords running the main Somali cities, principally Mogadishu and Kismayo. Though they used helicopter gunships and area bombardment, the Americans failed to defeat the leading warlord, Gen Muhammad Farrah Aidid, and eventually the UN forces were ordered to withdraw. A common thread through the accusations against the Belgian, Italian and Canadian forces, is the racism of elite units, particularly airborne units, and their inability to adapt to low-intensity peacekeeping operations. Last week an Italian paratrooper said: "What's the big deal? They are just niggers anyway." The head of the UN's peacekeeping department, Under Secretary General Bernard Miyet, said: "The image of the United Nations has been tarnished."
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 09:26 am LOL And what did you think of that - when Israel bulldozed mosques? Do you think that's OK, since it's Israeli territory now? You are simply supporting my point - but you appear to thick to figure it out, no offense. As for the idols the Prophet ordered destroyed, those were pagan idols that had previously been worshipped by MUSLIMS, who no longer worshipped them. Do your homework dude. The Qur'an is VERY clear on this subject, and in fact almost unanimously the Islamic scholars outside of Afghanistan say this destruction violates the dictates of the Qur'an. God damn, if you're going to be a Muslim at least know what that means. This kind of attitude is what makes Gaals think Muslims are primative and barbaric - which of course is not true. It's just the hypocrits who call themselves Muslims that give Islam a bad name. Anonymous You need to do your homework as well. The sanctions on Iraq are certainly controversial, we've addressed them here before. Talking about the Taliban doesn't mean we haven't talked about the sactions. As I have said before, I think we should Arabize the Iraqi problem and let them deal with it with our assistance. Ultimately he is their problem. So I agree the sanctions are not going to work and in fact, seem to have the inverse affect. The US government never put uranium on Somali teenagers - don't be a moron. The Italian mafia has been linked to nuclear waste dumping in Somalia. The US has nothing to do with that event and it is all post 1994 - our last presence there. Lastly, how on Gods green earth are statues suppose to defend themselves??? They are made of stone. Hello???? Anyone home there???? Anonymous Is there a reason you keep posting this over and over again?? Yu never comment on it, you just keep posting it and wasting space. I mean, if you commented on it or had a question or something I'd be happy to respond.
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 10:33 am Mad Mac, you said >the idols the Prophet ordered destroyed, those were pagan idols that had previously been worshipped by MUSLIMS, who no longer worshipped them< if this is the case, the idol the Taliban government ordering destroyed were pagan idols that had previously been worshipped by the MUSLIMS in afghanistian, who no longer worshipped them, people who conversted to ISLAM. If the Quran was not against those idols in MAKKA be destroyed, it is not against those idols in Afghanistian be destroyed. No bhudist lives there now. .@.LOL. Therefore, the Arab Islamic scholars outside of Afghanistan are the hypocrites.
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 11:08 am Ulema's demolition edict irreversible: Taliban Saturday, March 03, 2001 ISLAMABAD: The ruling Taliban militia in Afghnistan today said the religious edict directing the demolition of the non-Islamic statues across Afghanistan was "irreversible", bringing the fresh UNESCO efforts to nought. In order to persuade the Islamic militia to stop the demolition of statues including 2000-year-old world's tallest Buddha, the UNESCO's Special Emissary Pierre Lafrance met the Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, Mulla Zaeef, who told that the decision to destroy the statues was "irreversible" as it had been taken by Muslim scholars and not by the Taliban regime. The Taliban Ambassador said, "We realise the importance of Afghanistan's cultural heritage and know that its destruction may create problems for us. But the decision to demolish the statues has been taken by Afghanistan's Ulema not by the Taliban government. Taliban government is bound to enforce any of religious scholar's decision". Lafrance, who is yet to be allowed to see the militia chief Mulla Mohammed Omar, has been granted a visa to Afghanistan only to meet Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muthawakil. Interestingly, there were contradictions in the news emanating from Afghanistan, with Zaeef saying preparations underway to destroy the statues and reports from Kabul saying the destruction has already begun. The Director General of UNESCO has sent Lafrance to the region to impress upon Taliban to desist from destroying the historical monuments. He plans to proceed to Afghanistan to hold more talks with senior Taliban leaders. Zaeef said during the meeting Lafrance tried to impress upon him that the destruction of the ancient statues would amount to a loss to the whole world and the international community was perturbed over the Taliban's action. The UNESCO representative said that Mulla Muhammad Omar's edict would further deteriorate relations between the Taliban and the international community, and would affect the militia's attempts to gain recognition among the comity of nations. Meanwhile, Taliban Minister for Information and Culture Mawlawi Quadratullah Jamal said that the Buddha statues, including the two in central Bamiyan province, would be totally destroyed within four days.
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 11:14 am Is this weird or what? How come every one became Anonymous? stil u can,t fool us MD........Waalane........walaahay u seem Crzy person...........who need a phycholigical help.......
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 11:27 am Afghan Buddhas doomed: foreign minister KABUL, Afghanistan , 3/4/2001 (AFP) :: Afghanistan''s famous Bamiyan Buddhas appeared doomed Sunday as the Taliban militia ruled out any reversal of their "Islamic" edict ahead of talks with a special United Nations envoy. Minister of Information and Culture Mawlawi Qudratullah Jamal said the destruction of ancient statues was continuing throughout the country despite international appeals for their preservation. He said large portions of the two massive Buddha figures in central Bamiyan province, dating back more than 1,500 years, had already been destroyed, along with thousands of other statues throughout the country. "Work is in progress on them. They are massive if you see them closely," he said, dismissing international protests. Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel confirmed to AFP the Bamiyan Buddhas would soon be destroyed as he prepared for talks with UNESCO special envoy Pierre Lafrance in the Taliban''s southern stronghold of Kandahar. "The edict will be implemented Inshallah (God willing)," Mutawakel said shortly before Lafrance''s arrival from neighbouring Pakistan. "We would like to see the UNESCO enovy. It is good that we can explain to him that what we are doing is an internal issue and we do not want to confront the world." The Islamic militia last week began destroying historic statues around the country to prevent idolatry, but Lafrance said Saturday that there was a "faint glimpse of hope" they could still be saved. He cited conflicting reports from Taliban officials about the extent of the destruction so far and the nature of the order from Taliban Supreme Leader Mulla Mohammad Omar which authorised the iconoclasm. Journalists have been barred from visiting Bamiyan, where the Taliban have recently engaged in heavy battles with armed opposition forces. Buddhism''s most prominent leader, the Dalai Lama, said he was "deeply concerned" about the Taliban''s attempts to erase Afghanistan''s pre-Islamic history. "I am deeply concerned about the possible destruction of the Bamiyan statues of the Buddha at a time when there is closer understanding and better harmony among different religions of the world," he was quoted as saying in the Times of India Sunday. "As a Buddhist, I feel it is unfortunate that objects of worship are targets of destruction." The Taliban fundamentalist militia are recognised only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and are not represented at the UN or the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Jamal said that while the action against the statues had nothing to do with the regime''s craving for international recognition, the UN would have more influence in Kandahar if it did not still recognise the ousted government. "We tell the United Nations to go and ask (ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani) for the statues'' preservation, because they recognize him," he said. The Taliban (Islamic Students) captured the capital Kabul in 1996 and now control most of the country, which they are trying to turn into a pure Mohammadan state. Lafrance, the former French ambassador to Iran and Pakistan, on Saturday met the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad and expressed the world''s outrage. "Despite the fact that all my interlocutors wished me good luck and were supportive of my mission I hardly dare to be optimistic," he said after the meeting. A storm of international protest erupted last week when the Taliban said they had started rocketing the Bamiyan Buddhas, which stand 50 meters (165 feet) and 34.5 meters tall. Carved into a sandstone mountain near the provincial capital between the second and fifth centuries AD, the taller figure is the largest standing Buddha in the world.
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 11:27 am World Cares More for Buddhist Statues than Human Life Reported by: Hebah Abdalla 3/3/2001 :: Anyone who has been closely following the media reports coming out of Afghanistan this week can only come to one conclusion: that the world community cares more about ancient relics than it does human lives. This week, shortly after Taliban leaders announced their decision to destroy two Buddhist statues carved into a sandstone cliff in the central Bamiyan province, the international community lashed out with strong condemnation. Unsurprisingly, the United States was among the first to criticize Afghanistan''s ruling regime. Relations between the Taliban and the Americans deteriorated even further after the U.S. initiated latest round of sanctions on the war-torn nation. During a State Department briefing this week, US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the edict against the statues "directly contradicts one of Islam''s basic tenets -- tolerance for other religions". The United Nations sent a special envoy to meet with the Taliban foreign minister, warning their destruction would cause "international outrage". The European Union, along with several other industrialized nations urged the Taliban to reverse the decision. Shortly thereafter, a long list of countries joined the international uproar over the relics, including Malaysia, Germany, Russia, India, and Japan. Even Egypt''s spiritual leader, mufti Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel, expressed "astonishment" at the Taliban''s decision, saying they had no negative impact on Muslims. Sri Lanka and India even offered to move and protect the statues if the Afghani government would agree. And without hesitation, the international media dutifully reported the outpouring of grief and anger over the threatened Buddhas, as one headline read, "Worldwide horror as Afghan Taliban begin smashing ancient statues". But there was no "worldwide horror" or "international outrage" when UN officials announced Friday that more than 260 people have died in displacement camps in northern Afghanistan where an additional 117,000 people are living in miserable conditions. There was no outpouring of grief for those refugees who mostly died of hunger and exposure to cold weather. Sadly, no one seemed to care that most of the deceased were children under the age of five, elderly men, and women who did not survive childbirth. And there were no invitations to house these refugees as conditions in these camps are expected to deteriorate. Perhaps the only consolation in all of this, is that these refugees may never know how much the world cared for two statues and how little it cared for them.
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 11:42 am http://www.afghan-network.net/news/ Chechen rebels see world "hypocrisy" Support for the Taleban campaign to destroy the Buddhist statues has come from a senior figure in the Chechen rebel movement - Yusuf Ibrahim, an influential editor at the Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency. The following are excerpts from his Kavkaz-Tsentr article on Saturday 3 March: The heathen world is upset. The so-called world community, which is personified by the Judeo-Christian heathen alliance, has kicked up a real fuss over the decision by the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to destroy stone idols in its country. The world hypocritically laments for the stone idols and blesses the Kremlin crusade against the Muslims of Chechnya Yusuf Ibrahim Numerous international organisations and entire states have launched an unprecedented hullabaloo in the news and are accusing the Afghans of vandalism... So, the heathen alliance considers the actions of Muslims who are carrying out an elementary prescription of the shari'ah as "hostility towards values common to all mankind". The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), whose first action was to destroy idols and idolatry, is also a "vandal" and an "enemy" in the eyes of the heathens... Without shame or remorse over its own shamelesness, the world community is hypocritically lamenting the stone idols and simultaneously giving its blessing to the Kremlin gangs' crusade against the Muslims of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria... Human rights Neither hundreds of corpses nor concentration camps nor the Satanic mayhem of the Russian occupiers have had any impact on the "opinion" of the so-called human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, Alvaro Gil-Robles who, after his ignoble and cowardly statements, can be taken for nothing other than an enemy. The international outcry over the fate of the stone statues and the joyous silence over the mass killings of Muslims in Chechnya, Palestine, Kashmir, the Philippines and other countries once again demonstrate the true essence of Kufr (lack of faith). Those Muslims who are still being deceived regarding the so-called world community must finally understand that there will be no peace, security and justice, while violence and true obscurantism prevail on the face of the Earth, as long as our entire religion and law fail to belong to our Creator, the Lord of the Worlds, the Great God (the Most High) who is the only One who sets laws and the only One worthy of worship.
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| | Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 11:50 pm LOL Ahhh I see. So Muslim scholars who live outside of Afghanistan are all hypocrites (including those damn Iranians), US lackeys, swine who are holding back the real Islam. but fortunately we have the wise and far-sighted Afghanis, that shining light of civilization leading us to a new frontier. Yeah right. Why is it that when your Muslim scholars issue some edit or opinion that is anti-western you are only too quick to embrace it, but when they issue something that has the same position as the west, they are hypocrits. There is nothing to be gained by destorying what are essentially works of art. Nothing. Allah is not impressed. All the Afghanis have managed to do is give Islam yet another black eye. If Muslims leaders and scholars actions weren't so tragic it would be comical.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 02:11 am "So Muslim scholars who live outside of Afghanistan are all hypocrites(including those damn Iranians), US lackeys, swine who are holding back the real Islam, but fortunately we have the wise and far-sighted Afghanis, that shining light of civilization leading us to a new frontier. Yeah right. " lol. not all muslim scholars outside or inside of afghanistan agree each other on this issue and not all of them are hypocrites. ;-) "Why is it that when your Muslim scholars issue some edit or opinion that is anti-western you are only too quick to embrace it, but when they issue something that has the same position as the west, they are hypocrits." i think you are talking about yourself. you said "It's just the hypocrits who call themselves Muslims that give Islam a bad name.". ;-) "There is nothing to be gained by destorying what are essentially works of art. Nothing." if it is nothing to be gained, why the outcry. it is just a work of art, right? ;-) "Allah is not impressed." He is not impressed with the idols, right? ;-) "All the Afghanis have managed to do is give Islam yet another black eye. If Muslims leaders and scholars actions weren't so tragic it would be comical." let me take the quote above and say what the chechen wrote: "The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), whose first action was to destroy idols and idolatry, is also a "vandal" and an "enemy" in the eyes of the heathens......." in other word, what he did to the idols in arabia gave islam another black eye, right?----wrong. ;-). mad mac, islam is going to flourish no matter what the kufars say and how much they wish for islam things that will not hurt. ;-)
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 02:36 am Asad The number of Islam scholars, quoted on CNN, that oppossed this destruction as un-Islamic, was in excess of 80%. now, of course this is just propaganda by the Zionist media I'm sure, but can we safely assume that it is a majority that believe it is un-Islamic?? Or do you contest that as well? As for the notion of Islam spreading, I don't care if it spreads or not. It's spreading won't affect me. I'm the only Macist in the world and I have always, and will continue, to march to the beat of my own drummer. I need no ones approval. I am simply pointing out how quickly the "Ummah" are dying to embrace this action in spite of the fact that at the very least it has a questionable basis in Islam and outrages many others (It doesn't outrage me. I have never been to Afghanistan and have no reason to go. So I wasn't going to see the stupid things anyway.). I believe the reason for this phenomenon is because Muslims feel compelled to stand on opposite sides of all Kufaars on all issues whenever possible.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 02:54 am MAD MAC Would the have CARE this BUdhist IDiols......if America don,t Hate Afghanistan?? would it aatarect that much attention? if the world is that Caring place and want really protect all the image of Faiths.....why don,t they Care the real Human being? How many Children who is dying every Minute......in Afganitan and IRAQ? now is the times I realise How Western World are really Fools....AfGhanistan |Have no Country no Life......and u expect them to Care.....Stones??? what weird planet we r in.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 05:03 am LogicS Saxib you are missing the point. Pointing out one injustice does not in any way mitigate another. I am not a proponent of the sanctions against Iraq or Afghanistan, I do not believe sanctions, except in a very narrow set of circumstances, are effective. However, that in no way mitigates the destruction of the statues. Is it getting disproportionate coverage? Sure it is. Ask yourself why. The destruction is so sensless, and in a way it represents Islams "•••• you" to the world at large, that that in itself generates coverage. Speaking of which, doesn't this symbolic stoning of the devil represent a form of idolatry. I mean the idols have been errected to symbolize the devil - a sort of idolatry in reverse. I guess you can't exactly call it devil worship, because worship is not what's taking place, but it does smack of using an stone object to represent something - the basic principal of idolatry. Has this ever been addressed. I just read about the tragic deaths at the Haj. Always a danger when you get large crowds together. I hope the Saudi authorities are able to come to grips with this problem in the future - it seems to be casting a pall over the event the last decade plus.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 05:42 am "Asad The number of Islam scholars, quoted on CNN, that oppossed this destruction as un-Islamic, was in excess of 80%." majority is not always right, mad mac. ;-) "now, of course this is just propaganda by the Zionist media I'm sure" if you say so. ;-) "but can we safely assume that it is a majority that believe it is un-Islamic?? Or do you contest that as well?" again, what the majority believes is not always correct. ;-) "As for the notion of Islam spreading, I don't care if it spreads or not." do you think muslims care or believe when you say islam get yet black eye? ;-) "It's spreading won't affect me." your sayings or your disbelief about islam would not effect islam either. ;-) "I'm the only Macist in the world and I have always, and will continue, to march to the beat of my own drummer." i'm a muslim. ;-) "I need no ones approval." i don't accept no majority to tell me what is right or what is wrong and certainly i don't accept what a kufar tells me about islam. ;-) "I am simply pointing out how quickly the "Ummah" are dying to embrace this action in spite of the fact that at the very least it has a questionable basis in Islam and outrages many others (It doesn't outrage me." i told you kufars like you have plenty of excuses, but excuses would not work. ;-) "I have never been to Afghanistan and have no reason to go." same here. ;-) "So I wasn't going to see the stupid things anyway.)." lol. how is now an iconoclast-----calling the idol (bhuda) stupid? ;-) "I believe the reason for this phenomenon is because Muslims feel compelled to stand on opposite sides of all Kufaars on all issues whenever possible." islam will always stand on the opposite of all kufaars on things whenever possible, like it or not. when islam first came to arabia, the pagan arabs and the jewish in madina said the same things you are saying; they blamed islam, the prophet and muslims. there will always be conflicts between right and wrong-----haq vs badil-----islam vs non-islam. one of the very first things the prophet and his followers did when they entered makkah was destroy 360 idols. the prophet started doing this while reciting "And say: Truth (islamic monotheism or this Qur'an or jihad against polytheists) has come and batil (falsehood, i.e. satan or polytheism, etc.) has vanished. Surely! Badil is ever bound to vanish" 17:81. if the prophets and muslims could do what they did in makkah, why can't the afghanistans in afghan can't do it? ;-)
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 07:59 am Taliban: The World Needs the Iconoclasts Reported by: Khalid Baig, Current Affairs 3/5/2001 :: As expected, the Taliban decision to destroy statues from the Islamic State has created a big international uproar. The entire "civilized world", with the UN at its head, has been jumping up and down to condemn this "great crime against humanity." The world leaders have been shaking with anger. The Taliban have been warned by the UN of a "devastating reaction" if they harm the sacred stones. One pundit even suggested sending an army to rescue the beleaguered Buddhas. It is fascinating to see all these political and cultural champions get all worked up with "moral indignation." Through their pious pronouncements they try to persuade us that theirs is a principled stand. The only problem is that it is difficult to discern what that principle is. "No poor country has ever been sanctioned the way Afghanistan has." (UN Report) Is it their concern for humanity? Well, it is the same UN that has started the project of torturing and killing the people by the millions in the war-devastated Afghanistan by imposing sanctions against it. The scheme they are using --- depriving the little children of milk, the hungry of food and the sick of medicine --- has been perfected in Iraq where it has killed half a million people according to the estimates of the UN itself. The UN Security Council first imposed sanctions on Afghanistan in October 1999. They were tightened even more in December 2000, under strong pressure from the United States and Russia. According to a Global Policy Forum report, the new sanctions were imposed despite an August 2000 report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which highlighted the "tangible negative effect" on Afghanistan''s populace of the existing sanctions. Another draft OCHA report has said that "no poor country has ever been sanctioned the way Afghanistan has." So much for their concern for humanity. Is it their concern for religious freedom? It is important to remember that the Taliban are not destroying any place of worship or anything belonging to a place of worship. And although it is not apparent from the heated condemnations, the Taliban are not doing anything illegal either. The stone artifacts belong to their country; no body else holds title to them. If one buys a home and it comes with some statues, he has a right to keep them, sell them, destroy them or throw them away. Similarly, whether or not others like it or agree with it, the Afghans have a right to do what they want with the mountains, stones, and statues in their country, as long as they do not cause a danger to anybody else. Things become more interesting if we begin to check the credentials of the anti-Taliban campaign itself on the issue of religious freedom. Consider India, a leader in the current crusade, where the same people are ruling today who had led frenzied mobs to destroy the historical Babri Mosque just eight years ago and had killed 2000 people in the ensuing protests. It is amazing that the butchers have been prompt to display righteous anger over this "medieval barbarism." Given that the record of our beloved "International Community" on humanity and religious freedom is rather appalling, let us look at something more plausible, like a concern for universal cultural heritage. The results are no better here. For one must ask where were our guardians of cultural heritage when mosques, libraries, schools, historic buildings, and museums ---many of them great historic monuments ---- were being destroyed in the Balkans. More than 1200 mosques were destroyed in Bosnia by the European fanatics known as Serbs. More than 200 were destroyed in Kosova. Of course, unlike the Taliban they also killed the Imams and the rest of the population with the historic monuments they were destroying. Of course they committed other crimes so grisly that their cultural vandalism appeared to be a non-issue in comparison. And of course, the guardians of cultural heritage, of religious freedom, and of humanity were happily strolling through their art galleries when the butchery was going on. So if there is a principle behind their "principled stand," we are unable to find it. In a rare case the Washington Post tried to find an answer to the question as to why Afghans must keep and preserve the statues: "These old buildings are Afghanistan''s identity. And when you lose your identity, you''ve lost your soul." The problem is these artifacts are NOT Afghanistan''s identity. And the assertion is nothing but unvarnished cultural imperialism. Afghanistan''s identity derives from the life and example of the Prophets. Prophet Ibrahim, alayhi-salam, destroyed the idols, even though his own father was the idol maker. He was threatened with the wrath of gods. (Today, his followers are being threatened with the wrath of the "International Community," which is the same thing). He did not care. And in the process he exposed the weakness of the idols and the wickedness of the idol-worshippers. Later on, in Makkah he said the prayer: "O my Lord! Make this city one of peace and security and preserve me and my sons from worshipping idols. O my Lord! They [the idols] have indeed led astray many among mankind." [Ibrahim 14:35-36] When the pagans later on filled the Ka''ba he had rebuilt with idols, Allah sent Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam. Again he destroyed all of the idols there, forever. He did not preserve them as cultural heritage. Rather, with every stroke of the hammer, he declared, "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished." Those who have hearts of stone are naturally showing their love for stones. This is the Islamic heritage. You clean your own life and your own house of the idols. You do not preserve them as your cultural heritage or as a cherished work of art. And in doing so you will liberate the world. So is there a principle behind the "International Community''s" stand? May be there is an underlying principle, but it is a sinister one. One "expert" summed up the mood of this commotion while talking to the Los Angeles Times. "I would send in the army, I really would," Pratapaditya Pal, a visiting curator to the US, said. "It is of course very difficult to compare [a statue] with a human life, but don''t forget that we [humans] can reproduce. These Buddhas . . . are destroyed forever." There it is. We are living in a world in which animals are more valuable than humans (In India, for example, men have been slaughtered over the issue of cow slaughter). And now even the stones are more valuable than the humans. And to top it off, those who have developed such inverted values are the self-declared champions of human dignity. And why not? Those who have hearts of stone are naturally showing their love for stones. This is a cruel, self-conceited, arrogant, wicked and ignorant world. It has incessantly talked about its love of art but the only art at work here is the art of propaganda. It needs someone who can expose that. It needs the iconoclasts who would refuse to continue the business as usual; who would challenge its hegemony and tyranny; and who would rid it of its cruelty, self-conceit, arrogance, and ignorance.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 08:10 am UN envoy fails to convince Taliban KABUL, 3/5/2001 (Jang Group) :: UNESCO special envoy Pierre Lafrance on Sunday failed to persuade Afghanistan''s Taliban to stop the demolition of the country''s pre-Islamic cultural heritage, a report said. Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said he had detailed discussions with Lafrance in the militia''s southern bastion of Kandahar but could see no reason to stop the destruction, the private Afghan Islamic Press reported. "I do not see any chance to change our decision and stop the demolition of these statues," he was quoted as saying after the talks. Lafrance, the former French ambassador to Iran and Pakistan, was sent on Friday from Europe on an emergency mission to persuade the Taliban to stop destroying the country''s precious statues. Mutawakel said the envoy presented him with a message from UNESCO chief Koichiro Matsuura demanding a halt to the destruction. "Words fail me to describe adequately my feelings of consternation and powerlessness as I see the reports of the irreversible damage that is being done to Afghanistan''s exceptional cultural heritage," Matsuura said last week. The Taliban officials said the destruction, designed to stop idolatry, was nearly complete despite an international outcry. "The edict will be implemented Inshallah," Mutawakel said. "We would like to see the UNESCO envoy. It is good that we can explain to him that what we are doing is an internal issue and we do not want to confront the world." Afghanistan''s most famous monuments are two statues of Buddha in central Bamiyan province, officials said. Kabul rejects Iran''s offer to buy statues Reported by: Rahimullah Yusufzai PESHAWAR, 3/5/2001 (Jang Group) :: Afghan Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil said his government had rejected Iranian offers to buy Afghanistan''s statues or to keep them in safe custody. Talking to The News from Kandahar, he said Behrami from Iran''s foreign ministry phoned him on Sunday to make the two offers. "I told him that the statues are not for sale. Besides, I said Afghanistan as an Islamic country would not like any other Muslim country, including Iran, to keep in safe custody what we Afghans consider un-Islamic and don''t want to retain ourselves. I said Afghanistan had some museums and if we wanted we could have kept these statues in safe custody there," he explained. Asked whether the Taliban have started destroying the statues, including the two giant Buddhas in Bamiyan, Mutawakil said he was unaware of the latest situation. When told that the Taliban information and culture minister Qudratullah Jamal was saying that the operation to destroy the Buddhas had started while Afghan ambassador in Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef, believes such an action hasn''t yet started, he felt the culture minister ought to be believed as the demolition work had been assigned to his ministry along with the minister for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice. "But I don''t know if the Buddhas have been destroyed or are still standing," he said. In reply to a question about Pakistan''s appeal to the Taliban to rescind their decision to destroy statues in response to international sentiment, the Afghan foreign minister said his government valued the well-meaning opinions of friendly and other nations. "But we have an Islamic system of government in Afghanistan and we want to take our own decisions in keeping with our faith," he argued. Reminded of the international outcry over the Taliban decision to obliterate the statues, Mutawakil maintained that this action was neither against any religion nor nation. "Our critics say the statues are the heritage of Afghanistan and the Afghan people. As it is our heritage we should be allowed to decide what to do with it. It is nobody else''s business," he asserted. When questioned as to why was this controversial decision taken at this stage, Mutawakil said the ministry of culture and museum officials had sought the advice of Taliban supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar regarding the statues. He said Mulla Omar placed the issue before a group of Ulema (religious scholars) who gave the "Fatwa" (decree) that the statues should be destroyed. He added: "We have taken several steps to protect Afghanistan''s cultural heritage by stopping illegal excavations, retrieving stolen artefacts and restoring museums. But we don''t want to keep statues in our museums or anywhere else as it is against Islam." Mutawakil said most of the statues and other artefacts were damaged and looted during the communist and Mujahideen rule and it goes to the credit of Taliban that they located and preserved a considerable number to preserve Afghanistan''s heritage. "I know that Peshawar is still full of artefacts looted from Afghanistan''s museums and we consider it a national loss," he added. The Afghan foreign minister dismissed reports that the Taliban decided to announce destruction of the statues to blackmail the international community to recognise their government and lift sanctions imposed on them by the UN Security Council for refusing to expel Osama bin Laden. He also described as rubbish an allegation that the Taliban were hoping to trade-off the statues for a hefty sum of money, especially from rich Buddhist countries like Japan. Afghan Buddhas doomed: Foreign Minister Reported by: Kyodo Japan KABUL, 3/5/2001 :: Taliban officials said on Sunday Afghanistan''s ancient Bamiyan Buddhas were nearly destroyed and ruled out any hope for their preservation ahead of talks with a special United Nations envoy. Minister of Information and Culture Mawlawi Qudratullah Jamal said the destruction of "un-Islamic" ancient statues was continuing throughout the country despite international appeals for their preservation. He said, large portions of the two massive Buddha figures in central Bamiyan province, dating back more than 1,500 years, had already been reduced to rubble, along with thousands of other statues throughout the country. Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel confirmed to reporters the Bamiyan Buddhas would soon be destroyed as he prepared for talks with UNESCO special envoy Pierre Lafrance in the Taliban''s southern stronghold of Kandahar. "The edict will be implemented Inshallah (God willing)," Mutawakel said shortly before Lafrance''s arrival. "We would like to see the UNESCO envoy. It is good that we can explain to him that what we are doing is an internal issue and we do not want to confront the world." The Islamic militia last week began smashing statues around the country to prevent idolatry, but Lafrance said on Saturday there was a "faint glimpse of hope" they could still be saved. Journalists have been barred from visiting the Kabul Museum and Bamiyan province where the Taliban have recently engaged in heavy battles with armed opposition forces. Shortly after arriving in Kandahar Lafrance began meetings with officials including Mutawakel, UN sources in Kabul said. Buddhism''s most prominent leader, the Dalai Lama, said he was "deeply concerned" about the Taliban''s attempts to erase Afghanistan''s pre-Islamic history. The Group of Eight countries expressed "dismay and shock" at the destruction and urged Afghan leaders not to implement "this deeply tragic decision." The Taliban fundamentalist militia are recognised only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and are not represented at the UN or the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Afghanistan''s Taliban leader urges Muslims to unite over icons Reported by: Australian Broadcasting Corporation 3/5/2001 :: Afghanistan''s Taliban chief Mulla Mohammad Omar has urged the Muslim world to support the destruction of ancient Buddhist icons and unite behind his vision of Islam. He says the annihilation of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan will proceed despite international condemnation and protests from Islamic states. Mr Omar says the statues are only "one percent" of Afghanistan''s historical heritage. He dismissed the global outcry as a "drama" which should be transparent to Muslims with "common sense." Taliban officials have said the "work" on the statues is nearly complete, with more than two-thirds of the thousands of historic figures in the country already smashed. Afghan Clerics Urge Hard Line on Statues Reported by: The Los Angeles Times KABUL, Afghanistan, 3/5/2001 :: Afghan Islamic clerics on Monday urged the ruling Taliban''s supreme leader not to bow to international pressure and to push ahead with controversial plans to destroy historic statues. The call was echoed through loud speakers in most mosques in the Afghan capital Kabul on the occasion of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice. "They (non-Muslims) want to deviate us from our firm responsibility and we here request that the policy of smashing these idols to go ahead," said one cleric. Another said: "Let us show the world that Muslims are united in their beliefs and will not bow down to any pressure at any cost." The Taliban have vowed to destroy all statues in the country, including two massive ancient Buddhas in Bamiyan, towering 175 feet and 120 feet and carved into sandstone cliffs. The purist Islamic movement, which has been widely condemned for the plan, says it has smashed major statue collections in several parts of the country since last week when supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a decree to destroy what he termed un-Islamic idols. The fate of the colossal Buddhas at Bamiyan, hewn out of the rock face 15 centuries ago, remains unknown. A Taliban source told Reuters on Sunday that they had yet to begin destroying the relics, although other officials have said the piece-by-piece demolition was already underway. Protests against the destruction have come from far and near. Leading industrialized countries, Muslim and Buddhist nations, and the United Nations have urged the Taliban to scrap the plan saying the statues are part of the world''s common historical and cultural heritage. An envoy of the Paris-based U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, Pierre Lafrance, said he had held "a very long discussion" with Afghan Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil in Kabul on Sunday. He told CNN he hoped to meet the Taliban''s Omar in a few days, after the Eid al-Adha festival. Many ordinary Afghans, including some Taliban officials, say that as the statues are no longer worshipped they should be preserved. But to the Taliban leadership the decree is absolute. "Any abolition of the decree would mean an irreparable loss to the dignity of Islam and its followers. When the world ignores us and keeps on isolating us under various pretexts, why should we listen to them," said one cleric. Other said scrapping the decree could cause a split within the Taliban ranks. Afghan Statues Outcry Grows; Taliban Leader Defiant NEW DELHI, India , 3/5/2001 (Reuter) :: Hindu hard-liners in India burned a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, Monday as international outrage grew at the destruction by Afghanistan (news - web sites)''s Taliban rulers of historic statues in the name of Islam. As Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar defended his destruction order, a German minister compared the attack on the statues to the book-burning purges of the Nazis and an Afghan news agency said Japan had warned the drought and war-ravaged nation aid could be hit. But the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO (news - web sites) said talks with Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil led it to hope that all doors to saving the statues had not yet closed. The purist Islamic Taliban have vowed to destroy all statues in their country, including two massive and ancient Buddhas in Bamiyan, towering 175 feet and 120 feet and carved into sandstone cliffs. Iran urged the Organization of Islamic Conference, the world''s largest Islamic body, to take serious action to stop the Taliban, and Greece offered to buy statues left behind from the days of Alexander the Great''s conquests in Asia. More than 2,000 people turned out for a protest rally in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, where Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was born more than 2,600 years ago. Mainly Buddhist Thailand and predominantly Muslim Malaysia added their voices to a chorus of criticism. The European Union (news - web sites) denounced the start of the destruction of statues as ``an act of cultural barbarism and religious intolerance.'''' But a Kashmiri separatist group, based in Pakistan, expressed support for the Taliban stand. In a message quoted by the official Voice of Shariat radio, Mullah Omar dismissed criticism of his destruction call and said Afghan Muslims should be proud of smashing the statues. ``I ask the Muslim people of Afghanistan not to be afraid of the infidels'' pressure,'''' he added. ``I ask Afghans and world''s Muslims to use their sound wisdom... Do you prefer to be a breaker of idols or a seller of idols? The Taliban say they have smashed major statue collections in several parts of the country since last week when Omar first issued his decree to destroy the statues. The fate of the colossal Buddhas at Bamiyan, hewn out of the rock face at least 15 centuries ago, remains unknown. The United Nations (news - web sites) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said its special representative, Pierre Lafrance, had hinted at a solution to the plight of the two Buddhas after talks in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar with the Afghan foreign minister. ``All doors have not closed,'''' a statement quoted him as saying. ``Contacts are going on and new consultations of religious leaders are taking place in Afghanistan.'''' Lafrance, a French official sent by the Paris-based agency last week in a bid to save the priceless statues in central Afghanistan, confirmed that small Buddhist statues had been smashed in Ghazni and Herat. Afghanistan was a center of Buddhist culture before the arrival of Islam more than 1,200 years ago. About 200 right-wing Indian Hindus burned a copy of the Muslim holy book the Koran and tore up posters of Islamic shrines in the capital, New Delhi, to protest the Taliban action. ``Down with the Taliban. We will break Mecca and Medina,'''' shouted the protesters belonging to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, outside U.N. offices in the city. Sorrow And Dismay The European Union, in a statement issued in Pakistan, expressed dismay that the destruction of statues had begun. ``The Presidency of the European Union strongly condemns this crime against the world''s common heritage and deeply regrets that it has taken place in the name of one of the world''s important religions,'''' the statement said. In Germany, the mass-circulation daily Bild quoted German Culture Minister Julian Nida-Ruemelin as likening the smashing of the statues to Nazis burning books considered un-German in 1933. ``I feel myself uncannily reminded of the book burning by the Nazis. This is about a piece of global cultural heritage which the rest of the world cannot be indifferent to,'''' he said. The head of anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, its internationally recognized president, condemned the Taliban campaign to destroy the country''s pre-Islamic heritage. ``We strongly condemn and oppose the Taliban''s anti-national and anti-cultural action,'''' Burhanuddin Rabbani said in a statement prepared in his remote northern headquarters. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has called for Muslim action to stop the Taliban destruction, state television said. ``Khatami condemned the destruction of cultural and civilization monuments in Afghanistan and criticized Taliban''s inhuman and violent behavior,'''' the television said. Khatami called on the OIC to ``take serious action to stop this group,'''' it added. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said Japan''s ambassador to Pakistan, Sadaki Numata, had urged the Taliban not to destroy the statues, saying Japanese aid could be compromised if Buddhist statues were destroyed. ``Don''t break these statues because it is a religious issue in Japan where over 80 percent of people follow the Buddhist religion,'''' AIP quoted Numata as telling the Taliban representative in Islamabad. ``Your act might cause difficulties for aid to Afghanistan,'''' he added. Neighbor Pakistan, one of just three countries with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan''s legitimate rulers, has also called for a rethink. But Afghan Islamic clerics urged Omar not to bow to international pressure and to push ahead with the plan. Kashmiri militant organization Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, one of a number of groups Britain last week labeled as terrorist, voiced support for the Taliban stand. ``In an Islamic country there is no concept of idols and our holy prophet taught us to break the idols,'''' said a statement from the Pakistan-based group, which is fighting against Indian control in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 08:36 am Historical Beginnings (to the 7th century AD) The Achaemenians and the Greeks. In the 6th century BC the Achaemenian ruler Cyrus II the Great established his authority over the area. Darius I the Great consolidated Achaemenian rule of the region through the provinces, or satrapies, of Aria (in the region of modern Herat), Bactria (Balkh), Sattagydia (Ghazni to the Indus River), Arachosia (Qandahar), and Drangiana (Seistan). Alexander the Great overthrew the Achaemenians and conquered most of the Afghan satrapies before he left for India in 327 BC. Ruins of an outpost Greek city founded about 325 BC were discovered at Ay Khanom, at the confluence of the Amu and Kowkcheh rivers. Excavations there produced inscriptions and transcriptions of Delphic precepts written in a script influenced by cursive Greek. Greek decorative elements dominate the architecture, including an immense administrative center, a theatre, and a gymnasium. A nomadic raid about 130 BC ended the Greek era at Ay Khanom. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the eastern satrapies passed to the Seleucid dynasty, which ruled from Babylon. In about 304 BC the territory south of the Hindu Kush was ceded to the Maurya dynasty of northern India. Bilingual rock inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic (the official language of the Achaemenians) found at Qandahar and Laghman (in eastern Afghanistan) date from the reign of Ashoka (c. 265-238 BC, or c. 273-232 BC), the Maurya dynasty's most renowned emperor. Diodotus, a local Greco-Bactrian governor, declared the Afghan plain of the Amu River independent about 250 BC; Greco-Bactrian conquerors moved south about 180 BC and established their rule at Kabul and in the Punjab. The Parthians of eastern Iran also broke away from the Seleucids, establishing control over Seistan and Qandahar in the south. Kushan DYNASTY also spelled KUSANA, ruling line descended from the Yüeh-chih (q.v.), a people that ruled over most of the northern Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia during the first three centuries of the Christian era. The Yüeh-chih conquered Bactria in the 2nd century BC and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which was that of the Kushans (Kuei-shuang). A hundred years later, the Kushan chief Kujula Kadphises (Chiu-Chiu-Chueh) secured the political unification of the Yüeh-chih kingdom under himself. Under Kaniska I (fl. 1st century AD) and his successors, the Kushan kingdom reached its height. It was acknowledged as one of the four great Eurasian powers of its time (the others being China, Rome, and Parthia). The Kushans were instrumental in spreading Buddhism in Central Asia and China and in developing Mahayana Buddhism and the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art. The Kushans became affluent through trade, particularly with Rome, as their large issues of gold coins show. These coins, which exhibit the figures of Greek, Roman, Iranian, Hindu, and Buddhist deities and bear inscriptions in adapted Greek letters, are witness to the toleration and to the syncretism in religion and art that prevailed in the Kushan empire. After the rise of the Sasanian dynasty in Iran and of local powers in northern India, Kushan rule declined. The Sasanians and Hephthalites The Kushan Empire did not long survive Kaniska, though for centuries Kushan princes continued to rule in various provinces. Persian Sasanians established control over parts of Afghanistan, including Bagram, in AD 241. In AD 400 a new wave of Central Asian nomads under the Hephthalites took control, only to be defeated in AD 565 by a coalition of Sasanians and Western Turks. From the 5th through the 7th century many Chinese Buddhist pilgrims continued to travel through Afghanistan. The pilgrim Hsüan-tsang (Xüanzang) wrote an important account of his travels, and several of the religious centres he visited, including Hadda, Ghazna, Konduz, Bamian, Shotorak, and Bagram, have been excavated. Medieval Period (7th - 18th Century) Under the Hephthalites and Sasanians, many of the Afghan princedoms were influenced by Hinduism. The Hindu kings (Shahi) were concentrated in the Kabul and Ghazni areas. Excavated sites of the period include a major Hindu Shahi temple north of Kabul and a chapel in Ghazni that contains both Buddhist and Hindu statuary, indicating that there was a mingling of these two religions. The First Muslim DYNASTY Islamic armies defeated the Sasanians in AD 642 at Nahavand (near modern Hamadan, Iran) and moved on to the Afghan area, but they were unable to hold the territory; cities submitted, only to rise in revolt, and the hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies had passed. The 9th and 10th centuries witnessed the rise of numerous local Islamic dynasties. One of the earliest was the Tahirids of Khorasan, whose kingdom included Balkh and Herat; they established virtual independence from the 'Abbasid caliphate in AD 820. The Tahirids were succeeded in 867-869 by a native dynasty from Seistan, the Saffarids. Local princes in the north soon became feudatories of the powerful Samanids, who ruled from Bukhara. From 872 to 999 Bukhara, Samarkand, and Balkh enjoyed a golden age under Samanid rule. The Ghaznavids. In the middle of the 10th century a former Turkish slave named Alptegin seized Ghazna (Ghazni). He was succeeded by another former slave, Subüktigin, who extended the conquests to Kabul and the Indus. His son was the great Mahmud of Ghazna, who came to the throne in 998. Mahmud conquered the Punjab and Multan and carried his raids into the heart of India. The hitherto obscure town of Ghazna became a splendid city, as did the second capital at Bust (Lashkar Gah). The Ghurids. Mahmud's descendants continued to rule over a gradually diminishing empire until 1150, when 'Ala`-ud-Din Husayn of Ghur, a mountain-locked region in central Afghanistan, sacked Ghazna and drove the last Ghaznavid out to India. 'Ala`-ud-Din's nephew, Mu'izz-ud-Din Muhammad, known as Muhammad of Ghur, first invaded India in 1175. After his death in 1206, his general, Qutb-ud-Din Aybak, became the sultan of Delhi. The Khwarezm-Shahs. Shortly after Muhammad of Ghur's death, the Ghurid Empire fell apart, and Afghanistan was occupied by Sultan 'Ala` ad-Din Muhammad, the Khwarezm-Shah. The territories of the Khwarezm-Shah dynasty extended from Chinese Turkistan in the east to the borders of Iraq in the west. The Mongol invasion Genghis Khan invaded the eastern part of 'Ala` ad-Din's empire in 1219. Avoiding a battle, 'Ala` ad-Din retreated to a small island in the Caspian Sea, where he died in 1220. Soon after 'Ala` ad-Din's death, his energetic son Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu rallied the Afghan highlanders at Parwan (modern Jabal os Saraj), near Kabul, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mongols under Kutikonian. Genghis Khan, who was then at Herat, hastened to avenge the defeat and laid siege to Bamian. There Mutugen, the Khan's grandson, was killed, an event so infuriating to Genghis Khan that when he captured the citadel he ordered that no living being be spared. Bamian was utterly destroyed. Advancing on Ghazna, Genghis won a great victory over Jalal ad-Din, who then fell back toward the Indus (1221), where he made a final but unsuccessful stand. Later medieval dynasties After his death in 1227, Genghis Khan's vast empire fell to pieces. In Afghanistan some local chiefs succeeded in establishing independent principalities, and others acknowledged Mongol princes as suzerains. This state of affairs continued until the end of the 14th century, when Timur (Tamerlane) conquered a large part of the country. Timur's successors, the Timurids, were great patrons of learning and the arts who enriched their capital city of Herat with fine buildings. Under their rule (1404-1507) Afghanistan enjoyed peace and prosperity. Early in the 16th century the Turkic Uzbeks rose to power in Central Asia under Muhammad Shaybani, who took Herat in 1507. In late 1510 the Safavid shah Esma'il besieged Shaybani in Merv and killed him. Babur, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur, had made Kabul the capital of an independent principality in 1504. He captured Qandahar in 1522, and in 1526 he marched on Delhi. He defeated Ibrahim, the last of the Lodi Afghan kings of India, and established the Mughal Empire, which lasted until the middle of the 19th century and included all of eastern Afghanistan south of the Hindu Kush. The capital was at Agra. Nine years after his death in 1530, the body of Babur was taken to Kabul for burial. During the next 200 years Afghanistan was parceled between the Mughals of India and the Safavids of Persia--the former holding Kabul north to the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush and the latter Herat and Farah. Qandahar was for many years in dispute. LAST AFGHAN EMPIRE Overthrow of foreign rule Periodic attempts were made to gain independence. In 1709 Mirwais Khan, a leader of the Hotak , led a successful rising against Gorgin Khan, the Persian governor of Qandahar. The Hotakis. Mirwais Khan governed Qandahar until his death in 1715. In 1716 the Abdalis of Herat, encouraged by his example, took up arms against the Persians and under their leader, Asadullah Khan, succeeded in liberating their province. Mahmud, Mirwais's young son and successor, was not content with holding Qandahar, and in 1722 he led some 20,000 men against Isfahan; the Safavid government surrendered after a six-month siege. Mahmud died in 1725 and was succeeded by Ashraf, who had to contend with Russian pressure from the north and Ottoman Turk advances from the west. Shah Ashraf halted both the Russian and Turkish onslaughts, but a brigand chief, Nader Qoli Beg, defeated the Afghans at Damghan in October 1729 and drove them from Persia. During the retreat Ashraf was murdered, probably on orders from his cousin, who was then holding Qandahar. Nader Shah. Nader Qoli Beg took Herat in 1732 after a desperate siege. Impressed by their courage, Nader recruited many Heratis to serve in his army. He was elected shah of Persia, with the name Nader Shah, in 1736. In 1738, after a year's siege, the city of Qandahar fell to Nader Shah's army of 80,000 men. Nader Shah seized Ghazna and Kabul and occupied the Mughal capital at Delhi in 1739. His booty included the Koh-i-noor diamond and the Peacock Throne. He was assassinated at Khabushan in 1747, which led to the disintegration of his empire and the rise of the last great Afghan empire.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 10:35 am Asad My position remains that in this case the destruction is pointless and hardly worthy of Islam, but whatever. Since Muslims don't care what non-Muslims say or do, then they won't care that we maintain sanctions on Afghanistan and Iraq right? Muslims who want can defy the sanctions and deal with any repurcussions that might result but it won't matter because what Kufaar say and do is irrelevant. So I don't see why the Afghans need get their Turbans in a twist. Surely there is nothing from Kufar societies that they would want or need anyway. They can all trade among themselves (Pakistan, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, and Afghanistan - one big happy family) and we'll trade with the Gulf States and the rest of the world. They're happy and we're happy.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 12:48 pm "Asad My position remains that in this case the destruction is pointless and hardly worthy of Islam, but whatever." i told you this case (which is not pointless) or any other case-----islam is going to be effected by it. ;-) "Since Muslims don't care what non-Muslims say or do, then they won't care that we maintain sanctions on Afghanistan and Iraq right?" this is cheap excuse. those muslims care about their business and their relationship with their Lord. before this case, the non-muslims cared not the muslims and they maintained sanctions on afghanistan and iraq. ;-) "Muslims who want can defy the sanctions and deal with any repurcussions that might result but it won't matter because what Kufaar say and do is irrelevant." the kufaars say and do whatever they want, but when the muslims say and do whatever they want, there is problem.! ;-) "So I don't see why the Afghans need get their Turbans in a twist." yes, you don't see your hypocrisy. ;-) "Surely there is nothing from Kufar societies that they would want or need anyway." but the kufars would not stop interfering the business of afghanistan, right? ;-) "They can all trade among themselves (Pakistan, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, and Afghanistan - one big happy family) and we'll trade with the Gulf States and the rest of the world." but the UN and US would not let those other countries trade with afghanistan, right? ;-) "They're happy and we're happy." kufars would never be happy with the muslims----until they make the muslims they way they want. it is has been always like that. the kufars would not rest until they make the muslims compromise their religion or give up. the kufars will always blame islam and muslims and muslims will always do the same. the prophets of islam were killed just for preaching that Allah is one-----why would muslims be different when they follow the right course? ;-) there will always be conflicts between right and wrong-----haq vs badil-----islam vs non-islam. ;-)
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 12:51 pm "Asad My position remains that in this case the destruction is pointless and hardly worthy of Islam, but whatever." i told you this case (which is not pointless) or any other case-----islam is not going to be effected by it. ;-)
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| | Tuesday, March 06, 2001 - 07:17 am http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010305/ts/mdf21501.html
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| | Tuesday, March 06, 2001 - 11:55 am Asad Please allow me, for the sake of argument, to rearrange your last paragraph. "Muslims would never be happy with the Kufaar - until they make the Kufaar the way they want. It has always been like that. The Muslims will not rest until they make the Kufaars compromise their religion or give it up. The Muslims will always blame kufaar. Kufaar missionaries were killed just for preaching their faith. Why should kufaar be different when they follow the right course? There will always be conflicts between right and wrong, kufaar vs Islam." You say Kufaar are trying to change Muslims but of course Muslims are trying to change kufaar. That's what Da'wa is all about? The conflict isn't between Kufaar vs Islam. Lots of Islamic countries (and I mean those estates with Islamic majorities) are working with the West and vice versa. The conflict is between interests - in the case of Afghanistan they are harboring Bin Laden which is the real rub with the US (otherwise we really wouldn't care). In the case with Iraq they are threatening our oil supply (otherwise we wouldn't care there either). In the case of North Korea - it's a cold war legacy and we are now tied to South Korea. Oh wait, I'm sorry North Korea is not a Muslim country, so forget them, we have no conflict with them. In the case of Serbia it was because Milosovic was destabilizing the entire region - oh wait, they were killing Muslims, so forget it, they're OK too. We didn't mean to launch a bombing campaign against them more significant than the one launched on Iraq during Desert Storm. We meant to bomb the Albanians but we missed. You keep looking at these conflicts as if Americans give a rats ass what peoples faiths were when developing national strategy - yeah that's the ticket. That's what we do. We have these plannning conferences and plan how to exterminate the Muslims. No fooling you, no sir. How did you figure it out??? Eventually all Muslims are going to be rounded up and put in extermination camps. You are one clever rag head, you know that? Don't you think you might be slightly off base on this one? Do you want to know why the Afghanis insisted on destroying the statues? Because it was their way of saying "•••• you" to the non-Muslim world. You know it and I know it. They knew it would get everyone fired up and so they pressed on and made it public. They could have kept it secret until the action was over and then simply not said anything - the world media attention was not fixed to the site. But they want to stick a thumb in everyones eye. And you know what, I really don't care. They can do whatever they want. It's a backward, poverty stricken place with no ocean and a lousy climate. And now that the statues are gone, well that's it, it's off my list for potential vacation plans!!!!
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| | Tuesday, March 06, 2001 - 12:44 pm "Asad Please allow me, for the sake of argument, to rearrange your last paragraph." that is clever rearrangement. ;-) "Muslims would never be happy with the Kufaar - until they make the Kufaar the way they want. It has always been like that." if it is true, i say vise versa. "The Muslims will not rest until they make the Kufaars compromise their religion or give it up." muslims should not rest in preaching islam, but Allah will not accept compromise in religion. even if muslims make the kufars compromise their religion, Allah will not accept from them. Allah accept full faith. ;-) "The Muslims will always blame kufaar." and they should. ;-) "Kufaar missionaries were killed just for preaching their faith." have the muslims ever killed prophets of Allah? kufars killed many prophets who preached the Oneness of Allah, right? ;-) "Why should kufaar be different when they follow the right course? There will always be conflicts between right and wrong, kufaar vs Islam." i agree. ;-) "You say Kufaar are trying to change Muslims but of course Muslims are trying to change kufaar. That's what Da'wa is all about?" yes, i agree. kufars will do what they have to do and muslims will do what they have to do. ;-) "The conflict isn't between Kufaar vs Islam." yes, it is. the kufaars hate islam. ;-) "Lots of Islamic countries (and I mean those estates with Islamic majorities) are working with the West and vice versa." doing business with the kufars and doing trade with them is okay, but the kufars are the ones doing economy sanction, right? that is causing conflicts, right? ;-) "The conflict is between interests - in the case of Afghanistan they are harboring Bin Laden which is the real rub with the US (otherwise we really wouldn't care)." the interest has to do with islam. osma bin laden refused to compromise islam and those afghanistans who gave him shelter rufused to compromise either. osama bin laden's interests is islam and the leaders of US are kufaars who sponsor state terrorists (israel) right? ;-) "In the case with Iraq they are threatening our oil supply (otherwise we wouldn't care there either)." and isreali terrorists (the enemy of muslims) too, right? ;-) "In the case of North Korea - it's a cold war legacy and we are now tied to South Korea. Oh wait, I'm sorry North Korea is not a Muslim country, so forget them, we have no conflict with them." wait also, conflicts iraq has with other arabs is about islam, right? wrong. ;-) "In the case of Serbia it was because Milosovic was destabilizing the entire region - oh wait, they were killing Muslims, so forget it, they're OK too. We didn't mean to launch a bombing campaign against them more significant than the one launched on Iraq during Desert Storm. We meant to bomb the Albanians but we missed." when the jews were getting killed by the christians, didn't the muslim save them? i fogot, wait, were the jews at that time killing the muslims? ;-) "You keep looking at these conflicts as if Americans give a rats ass what peoples faiths were when developing national strategy - yeah that's the ticket." the fact is that american leaders sponsor state terrorists and osam bin laden does not care the enemy and those who support them. they are the same to him. they are both wicked. ;-) "That's what we do." i know. ;-) "We have these plannning conferences and plan how to exterminate the Muslims." and osama bin laden is after killing all the americans, right? ;-) "No fooling you, no sir." lol. "How did you figure it out???" i didn't. you always tell us that islam and muslims are trouble makers, right? ;-) "Eventually all Muslims are going to be rounded up and put in extermination camps." as if some muslims are not being rounded up and put in refugee camps in their own land (palestine) with the help of US. ;-) "You are one clever rag head, you know that?" lol------rag head. ;-) "Don't you think you might be slightly off base on this one?" well, if the shoe fits wear it. ;-) "Do you want to know why the Afghanis insisted on destroying the statues? Because it was their way of saying "•••• you" to the non-Muslim world." are you saying it is not about islam? are you in their heart? ;-) "You know it and I know it." i didn't know that you are read mind.! ;-) "They knew it would get everyone fired up and so they pressed on and made it public." the afghanstans are doing things in their own land. when america helps israeli terrorists, are they trying to fire up the muslims or they hide it and pretend to be neutral? ;-) "They could have kept it secret until the action was over and then simply not said anything - the world media attention was not fixed to the site." they are not hypocrites and they are not afraid of any body. ;-) "But they want to stick a thumb in everyones eye. And you know what, I really don't care." you care it to comment it. ;-) "They can do whatever they want." as if you can do something about it. ;-) "It's a backward, poverty stricken place with no ocean and a lousy climate. And now that the statues are gone, well that's it, it's off my list for potential vacation plans!!!!" lol. looks like you are talking about somalia too, but you care somalia, right? but wait.....somalia is a bacward, poverty stricken place with lausy climate....and there are not statues and somalis are killing themselves too and they killed americans.....they even dragged a dead american boy on the streets too. ;-)
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| | Tuesday, March 06, 2001 - 06:06 pm Qura''an desecrated in India NEW DELHI India, 3/6/2001 (Jang Group) :: Hindu hardliners in India burned a copy of the Holy Quran on Monday as international outrage grew at the destruction by Taliban of historic statues in the name of Islam. About 200 right-wing Indian Hindus burnt a copy of the Holy Quran and tore up posters of Islamic shrines in New Delhi on Monday to protest the Taliban''s destruction of statues. "Down with the Taliban. We will break Mecca and Medina," shouted the protesters belonging to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, outside UN offices in the city. As Taliban leader Mullah Omar defended his destruction order, a German minister compared the attack on the statues to the book-burning by the Nazis; and an Afghan news agency said Japan had warned the drought and war-ravaged nation aid could be hit. Mainly Buddhist Thailand and predominantly Muslim Malaysia added their voices to a chorus of criticism. Indian Buddhists took to the streets of New Delhi on Monday to protest against the destruction of ancient Buddha statues by the Taliban regime. Around 100 Buddhists, including lay people and monks chanting "Taliban Shame Shame" walked towards parliament, carrying banners calling on the United Nations to take action to protect the statues. Besides speeches by Buddhist leaders, the demonstrators heard addresses by clerics from the Sikh, Hindu and Muslim faiths who added their voices to the international outcry over the Taliban''s campaign. "The Buddhist community of India is in deep shock," the Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association, which organised Monday''s protest, said in an open letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. "This act of the Taliban is against all religions and humanity," the letter said. "We strongly condemn the act of the ruling Taliban and urge you to take immediate action to stop the destruction of the Buddhist statues." Tibet''s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has also condemned the Taliban, saying that he was "deeply concerned" at the prospect of the statues'' destruction. The European Union denounced the start of the destruction of statues as "an act of cultural barbarism and religious intolerance". The European Union, in a statement issued in Pakistan by Sweden, which holds its rotating presidency, expressed sorrow and dismay that the destruction of statues had begun. "The Presidency of the European Union strongly condemns this crime against the world''s common heritage and deeply regrets that it has taken place in the name of one of the world''s important religions," the statement said. In Germany, the mass-circulation daily Bild quoted German Culture Minister Julian Nida-Ruemelin as likening the smashing of the statues to Nazis burning books considered un-German in 1933. "I feel myself uncannily reminded of the book-burning by the Nazis. This is about a piece of global cultural heritage which the rest of the world cannot be indifferent to," he said. The supreme leader of Afghanistan''s ruling Taliban movement on Monday defended his controversial order to destroy historic statues as an honour for Islam and the nation. In a message quoted by the official Voice of Shariat radio, Mullah Omar dismissed criticism of the plan and said Afghan Muslims should be proud of smashing the statues. "It is a shame for those Afghans who criticise this decree," the radio quoted Omar, who denounces what he calls unIslamic idols, as saying. "I ask Afghans and world''s Muslims to use their sound wisdom... Do you prefer to be a breaker of idols or a seller of idols," he added. The Taliban have vowed to destroy all statues in the country, including two massive and ancient Buddhas in Bamyan, towering 175 feet (53 metres) and 120 feet (36.5 metres) and carved into sandstone cliffs. Omar''s call sparked international outrage and calls from around the globe for a change of heart. New York''s Metropolitan Museum of Art offered to buy the statues to save them. Omar said the statues formed one per cent of Afghanistan''s cultural relics and Islamic principles ordered their annihilation. There has been intense international cover of the story. Omar said that the BBC and other western media had begun a campaign against the Quran. "I ask the people of Afghanistan not to be afraid of the infidels'' pressure... and do not synchronise with them," he said. The head of anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan condemned the Taliban campaign to destroy the country''s pre-Islamic heritage. "We strongly condemn and oppose the Taliban''s anti-national and anti-cultural action in respect to the destruction of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan," Burhanuddin Rabbani said in a statement prepared in his remote northern headquarters of Faisabad on Sunday and sent to Reuters on Monday. Afghanistan was a centre of Buddhist culture before the arrival of Islam more than 1,200 years ago. Afghan Islamic clerics earlier urged Omar not to bow to international pressure and to push ahead with the plan. Their call was echoed through loud speakers in most mosques in the Afghan capital Kabul on the occasion of the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Azha. "They (non-Muslims) want to deviate us from our firm responsibility and we here request that the policy of smashing these idols to go ahead," said one cleric. The Taliban say they have smashed major statue collections in several parts of the country since last week when Omar first issued his decree to destroy the statues. The fate of the colossal Buddhas at Bamiyan, hewn out of the rock face at least 15 centuries ago, remains unknown. A Taliban source told Reuters on Sunday that they had yet to begin destroying the relics. Other officials have said the piece-by-piece demolition was already under way. Leading industrialised countries, Muslim and Buddhist nations, and the United Nations say the statues are part of the world''s common historical and cultural heritage. An envoy of the Paris-based UN cultural agency Unesco said he had held "a very long discussion" with Afghan Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil in Kabul Sunday. Pierre Lafrance told CNN he hoped to meet the Taliban''s Omar in a few days, after the Eid. Many ordinary Afghans, including some Taliban officials, say the statues should be preserved as they are no longer worshipped. Some say that scrapping the decree could cause a split within the Taliban ranks. The Iranian parliament on Monday condemned the Taliban religious regime''s destruction of ancient Buddhist art in Afghanistan, and President Khatami called the demolition un-Islamic. Iran has been among the louder voices in the international condemnation of the Taliban''s destruction of relics. Khatami accused the Taliban of acting under the "guise of Islam" to commit acts that were "inhumane, violent" and against culture, Iran''s Islamic Republic News Agency reported. He was speaking on Monday in a telephone conversation with Qatar''s Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose country currently holds the rotating chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, IRNA said. "Regrettably, those who pretend to be paragons of Islam, are seen committing such evil acts," the Iranian Majlis, or parliament, said in its statement. "The parliamentary cultural committee calls on all international bodies to spare no effort in calling a halt to such anti-Islamic and counter-cultural acts aimed at portraying a wrong image of Islam," IRNA quoted the Majlis as saying. Japan has told Afghanistan''s ruling Taliban that their decision to destroy ancient Buddhist statues could hamper Japanese aid for their drought-ravaged and war-torn nation, an Afghan news service said on Monday. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said Japan''s Ambassador to Pakistan, Sadaki Numata, urged the Taliban at a meeting on Saturday with Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban''s envoy to Islamabad, not to carry out the destruction order. "Don''t break these statues because it is a religious issue in Japan where over 80 per cent of people follow the Buddhist religion," AIP quoted Numata as saying. "Your act might cause difficulties for aid to Afghanistan," he added. Meanwhile, Greece said on Monday it wanted to buy Afghan historic statues with Hellenistic elements, a leftover of Alexander the Great''s conquest of Asia, to save them from radical Taliban authorities. "We''ve expressed our interest in buying some statues if that means saving them," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas told reporters. "This blind rage is destroying part of the world''s cultural heritage." Greece, which is especially sensitive on historical conservation issues, is particularly interested in saving artworks with Hellenistic elements of the 3rd century BC, a left-over from Alexander the Great''s campaign of conquest stretching from Greece into south-central Asia. On Sunday Greece joined other European, Arab and Asian nations in calling on the Taliban to stop the destruction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taliban chose moment well at time of Haj Reported by: The Irish Times 3/6/2001 :: The Taliban was mistaken about the Muslim reaction to the destruction of statues, writes Michael Jansen AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban chief, Mullah Muhammad Omar, has carefully chosen his moment to order the destruction of Afghanistan''s two towering Buddhist statues at Bamiyan. He issued his command as the worldwide Muslim community, the Umma, entered the season of the pilgrimage, the Haj. Firstly, the mullah expected that at this highly emotional time in the Muslim calendar he could count on the tacit support of Muslims. For now, more than at any other time of the year, Muslims study the Koran, their holy book, and review the story of their Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad had denounced idolatry from the first days of his mission, believing that idol worship had caused the Arabs to stray from monotheistic observance laid down by the patriarchs of the Old Testament and by Jesus, whom Muhammad regarded as a prophet. When Muhammad attempted to lead his people back to the "right path", he and his followers were driven from Mecca. When he finally conquered the city in AD 630, he adopted a hard line towards idolators. Ahead of his final pilgrimage, Muhammad personally cleansed the Ka''bah, the cube-shaped building at the centre of the mosque in Mecca. On entering Ka''bah, he was enraged to find wall paintings depicting the Prophet Abraham holding divination arrows and angels in the form of beautiful women as well as idols. Muhammad ordered the obliteration of the murals and the destruction of the idols. His reconsecration of the Ka''bah to the One God is commemorated at the beginning of every pilgrimage by the ritual washing of the Ka''bah and dressing it with a magnificently embroidered drape, the kiswah. Surah 9, verses 1-17, 28 and 36, spell out how Muslims should conduct relations with idolators. Idolators who oppose Islam and wage war against Muslims should be fought, while those with whom Muslims have firm peace treaties should be respected as long as they abide by their treaties. Koranic teachings and Muhammad''s example of throwing the idols out of the "holy house" - in much the same way Jesus drove out the money changers - have inspired bouts of destruction among militant purists over the past 1,400 years. Secondly, the Taliban leader knew that the main financier of his movement, Saudi Arabia, would do nothing to halt the demolition of the statues because hardline Saudi clerics would applaud the Taliban''s actions. Finally, on the purely practical plane, the mullah was aware that most Muslim countries shut down during the four-day festival of Id al-Adhah, the Feast of Sacrifice, the climax of the pilgrimage. Although the Taliban leader may have correctly timed his campaign to coincide with the pilgrimage and the feast, he was clearly mistaken about the general Muslim reaction to his decision to destroy the monumental Buddhas as well as other nonIslamic and pre-Islamic treasures in Afghanistan. Ordinary Muslims and sages throughout the Islamic world have condemned the Taliban. Dr Usamah Khalidi, a knowledgeable layman, says: "There is nothing in Islam which orders the destruction of statues, particularly if they are of idols which people are no longer worshipping", as is the case of all Buddhist relics in Afghanistan. In fact, "Islam has always coexisted with religions which use representations of human forms in worship, notably Christianity and Hinduism." Muslims consider Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians as "People of the Book" who share belief in One God. Dr Khalidi says the Bamiyan Buddhas had survived for more than 1,000 years under Muslim rulers. Furthermore, "some of the Buddhist and Hindu treasures [which the Taliban is determined to destroy] were almost certainly made after the Muslim conquest of Afghanistan." Therefore, the country''s Muslim rulers tolerated the presence and practices of non-Muslim sects and subjects. Referring to the Prophet Muhammad''s clearance of the Ka''ba, Dr Khalidi says: "In fact, the oldest book about the history of Mecca reveals that amongst the paintings inside the Ka''bah was at least one of the Jesus and Mary which Muhammad preserved. This meant certain types of iconography were accepted by Muhammad". This painting remained intact until AD 684. During a siege of Mecca, the rebel Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr set fire to the Ka''bah, then made of wood. Ibn alZubayr rebuilt the Ka''bah according to a larger plan before his fall in AD 692. "The real iconoclastic movement in Islam did not begin until the Abbasids took power in the ninth century", Dr Khalidi asserts. The destruction of the Buddhas is not the only non-Islamic or anti-Islamic practice adopted by the Taliban which violates the Koranic edict, "There is no compulsion in religion" (Surah 2, verse 256). Nevertheless, the Taliban claims the destruction of the Buddhas is an "honour for Islam" while most Muslims are shamed and humiliated by the Taliban. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saving the Bamiyan statues Reported by: Inayatullah 3/6/2001 (Jang Group) :: The quick and sharp international reaction to Taliban''s resolve to destroy the historic statues in Afghanistan should make the Amerul Momineen Mulla Umar to rethink his edict. The Bamiyan statues, tallest of all the standing Buddahs in the world, carved and chiselled out of a sandstone mountain have survived countless regimes and rulers. Even Sultan Mahmood of Ghazna known as the idol-breaker did not touch them. These great relics of the past are a part of the world cultural heritage. They are the remains of history, are representations of a gone by culture and by themselves are not an affront to Islam. Many countries in South Asia and the Far East and in the West have initiated diplomatic moves to stop the destruction of the statues. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has directed heads of Sri Lankan missions abroad to mobilise support in various countries to work out a common strategy to safeguard the ancient relics. Another Minister AH Fowzie, who is also the National President of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party has appealed to the Taliban leader not to go ahead with the proposed action. "In the name of Almighty Allah and in the name of Islam I wish to appeal to the Taliban to desist from doing any harm to the Buddhist statues and instead give due protection as any true Muslim would have been obliged to do," he said. The Iranian reaction is significant -- Iran itself being a conservative religious government. "We condemn the destruction of statues of Buddha which are treasures of mankind just like the Taj Mahal or Imam Square in Isphahan," observed an Iranian official speaking to the AFP. France too has taken a serious notice of the Afghanistan government''s decision and has taken up the matter with Kabul "to save the pre-Islamic world heritage." The Secretary General of the United Nations too has appealed to the Taliban not to carry out its decision saying that "the UN General Assembly has repeatedly called on all Afghan parties to protect the cultural and historic relics and monuments of Afghanistan which are part of the common heritage of mankind." The UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura has highlighted "the terrible historic responsibility of the people of Afghanistan." The Director General has sprung into action by holding a meeting with the ambassadors of 54 countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to discuss ways to end the destruction. They he said were all united to ''vigorously condemning these unacceptable attacks on humanity''s common heritage." The Arab Group of UNESCO comprising all 22 members of the Arab League too have castigated the Afghans for these savage acts and notes that "successive Islamic governments in Afghanistan have preserved these masterpieces for 14 centuries." The Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schuimmer denouncing the destruction said that "no political or religious power has the right to deliberately destroy cultural property that belongs to mankind." Perhaps the strongest denunciation of the Taliban''s myopic move has come from India. Both houses of the Indian parliament have condemned the Afghan "vandalism." Prime Minister Vajpayee has addressed letters to 15 heads of government to join India in its efforts to halt the "savage" acts on the part of Taliban. What has been Pakistan''s role -- it being one of the three countries only which has recognised the Taliban regime. As a close neighbour and generally considered as one which helped Taliban''s rise and success in Afghanistan, it was only to be expected that it would be the first to seriously take up the matter with Kabul. All that it has done so far is to issue two appeals to the Taliban administration not to go ahead with the implementation of the edict. Here was an opportunity to mobilise the Islamic countries to put pressure on Mulla Umer. At stake was not only the image of the Taliban regime which has already attracted strong adverse criticism on account of its policies about education and women but also the general perception about Islam in this part of the world. Pakistan by using its considerable influence with the Taliban and quickly spearheading the international concern might have not only stopped the destruction of cultural property (quite a few pieces in museums and other places are reported to have been destroyed). The Indian action -- Parliamentary resolutions, Jaswant Singh''s well worded statements and Vajpayee''s initiative with influential powers across the globe stands in sharp contrast to Pakistan''s routinised and if I may say so, poor performance. It may be a little late but what stops Islamabad from calling an urgent meeting of the OIC. The whole Muslim world has expressed its disagreement with the Taliban''s interpretation of Islam in the matter. Even the Grand Mufti of Egypt Nasr Farid Wasel talking to a London-based Arabic Daily has said that "Islam was not against keeping the statues." Such statues he added as Egypt''s Pharaonic monuments bolster the economy of a country through tourism and "don''t have any negative impact on Muslim''s belief." Mr Abdul Sattar should immediately go to Kabul to tale a lead in the world''s community''s campaign and dissuade Mulla Umar from proceeding further in defiance of the international opinion. If however the Taliban remain adamant with their resolve to go ahead to destroy the statues, Sattar should plead with Kabul that instead of atomising the invaluable cultural heritage let the statues be removed to another country. In this connection the UN-relayed proposal of the New York''s Metropolitan Museums offer to buy them could be considered by them with advantage. The decision to destroy the statues may have come from the way the world has treated the Taliban who rule over 95% of the Afghan territory and still remain unrecognised by the United Nations and because of the unreasonable one-sided sanctions which have accentuated the miseries of the drought-ridden population. The Taliban, however, need not add to the damage already done to their interests by doing things which further irritate and alienate the international community. Pakistan too needs to make up for its laxity in playing a dynamic role in Afghanistan''s current crisis and thereby improving its image as an enlightened country which moves with the times and is in the mainstream of international cultural concerns. The author is a Lahore-based columnist -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- India''s chief Muslim cleric offers to intercede with Taliban NEW DELHI'' India, 3/6/2001 :: India''s top Muslim cleric offered Tuesday to intercede over the destruction of Buddhist monuments by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. However, Syed Ahmed Bukhari added that any effort on his part would be conditional on the Indian government resolving the dispute over right-wing Hindu plans to build a temple on the ruins of the Babri mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya. The mosque was razed by Hindu zealots eight years ago . "If they sort out the Babri Masjid issue, I am willing to go to Afghanistan," Bukhari told several thousand Muslims gathered for Friday morning prayers at New Delhi''s main mosque. "I am willing to intercede and I am confident they (the Taliban) will listen to me." Afghanistan''s Taliban rulers last week ordered the destruction of several ancient Buddha statues in the central province of Bamiyan, triggering a wave of protests from governments and religious leaders around the world. "We believe that the Taliban will listen to us. Islam does not permit believers of other religions to be hurt," Bukhari said, while criticising what he saw as a double standard operating in the international outcry over the Buddha statues. "When the Babri Masjid was being broken, where were the UNESCO people?" he said. "When the Taliban took their decision, the whole world condemned this. But only if you considered (the Babri destruction) wrong, could you say this was wrong as well." The razing of the 16th century Babri Masjid triggered some of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots in post-independence India. The Indian government has condemned the Taliban''s edict as a "sacrilege to humanity" and offered to bring the Buddha relics to India for safe-keeping. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taliban dynamite Afghan Buddhas as tide of protest rises KABUL, Afghanistan , 3/6/2001 (AFP) :: Taliban officials said dynamite was being used against Afghanistan''s famous Bamiyan Buddhas despite the Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday and fresh international protests Tuesday. The Taliban''s ambassador to neighbouring Pakistan, one of only three countries which recognises the fundamentalist regime, told the Afghan Islamic Press that dynamite had been employed to finally break up the Buddhas. "The destruction begun on Sunday and nearly one fourth of the two statues has been destroyed," ambassador Abdul Salam Zaeef said, adding the work continued through the start of the holiday on Monday. He said Tuesday that Taliban Supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar had rejected a proposal to build a concrete wall in front of the two Buddha status in central Bamiyan province. "The statues will be destroyed in compliance with the order ... and so far there is no proposal under consideration," Zaeef said. Taliban officials have said militiamen have been attacking the colossal stone Buddhas with rockets, tanks, gunpowder and tools such as spades and hammers, although the extent of the damage is impossible to verify. Observers have been refused permission to go to central Bamiyan province, where the two statues, including the largest standing Buddha in the world, were hewn into a sandstone cliff more than 1,500 years ago. The Taliban militia, which rules most of Afghanistan under a puritanical version of Islamic law, last week ordered the annihilation of all statues to prevent idolatry, sparking an international outcry. Ahmad Bahram, a spokesman for anti-Taliban opposition group Hezb-e-Wahdat, confirmed only that the Bamiyan Bhuddas had been shelled. "We have heard that they have fired a few shells at the statues but they have not yet used dynamite," he told AFP. The United States on Monday reiterated its appeal for the Taliban to leave the statues alone for future generations, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. Contacts were made with the militia''s representatives in Pakistan but the Americans were quickly rebuffed, he said. "Afghanistan''s ancient statues are an important part of the world''s cultural legacy and the cultural heritage of Afghanistan," he said. France also said it was pressing on with efforts to save the Buddhist heritage in Afghanistan. "We are maintaining close contact with all those who are striving to prevent the destruction of Afghanistan''s pre-Islamic statues ... in particular with the countries that have official relations with Kabul," the French foreign ministry said late Monday. In mostly Buddhist Thailand, the government Tuesday said it "gravely condemns the acts of brutal vandalism and strongly urges the Afghan leaders to immediately stop the destruction of cultural and historical heritage." Diplomats in Pakistan have privately indicated they do not believe the destruction is as extensive as the Taliban have said, and a UNESCO special envoy late Monday insisted the Bamiyan Buddhas could still be saved. "All doors are not closed. Continuing and new consultations are taking place among theologians in Afghanistan," Pierre Lafrance said. Lafrance, dispatched on an emergency mission from Europe on Friday, met top Taliban officials in Afghanistan Sunday and is expected to return for further talks after Eid. But Mulla Omar, in an Eid address Monday, defended his edict and said the destruction of "false idols" was a matter of pride for Afghans. "Now that we are destroying false idols, the world has made a drama out of this. The Muslims of the world, particularly Afghan Muslims, should use their common sense," the Taliban militia''s Radio Shariat quoted him as saying. Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said after meeting Lafrance in Kandahar Sunday that he could see no reason to reverse the edict. "I do not see any chance to change our decision and stop the demolition of these statues," he said.
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| | Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 07:37 am India''s Hindus, Muslims Clash Over Afghan Statues NEW DELHI , 3/7/2001 (AP Wire) :: India''s tough-talking Hindu fundamentalists Wednesday threatened to storm the country''s main mosque and "teach a lesson" to a top Muslim cleric who justified the destruction of Buddha statues by Taliban troops in Afghanistan. Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the influential high priest of the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, said he supported the destruction of the statues as they were the Taliban''s response to the razing of an ancient mosque in northern India by thousands of Hindu zealots in 1992. Bukhari also warned India of an "unimaginable" reprisal from the Islamic world if it continued what he called the "oppression of Muslims." The Hindu chauvinist Shiv Sena party, a member of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee''s ruling coalition, asked the government to arrest Bukhari. "The government should send him to Tihar jail in a week, otherwise we will deal will him our way. We will surround the mosque," Jai Bhagwan Goel, the party''s chief for northern India, told The Associated Press. Tihar is a high security prison in the capital. Asked whether his party members could storm the mosque, Goel said: "We will go to any limit to teach him a lesson. We are not responsible for what happens." The Taliban''s reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has ordered all pre-Islamic statues in the country destroyed, including the two towering Buddhas hewn from a cliff face in central Bamiyan in the third and fifth centuries. Their destruction, as well as thousands that of other relics, including a 2,000-year-old seated bodhisattva, has generated international outrage. In Buddhism, bodhisattvas are people of great spiritual awareness who help others reach enlightenment. "Afghanistan is speaking out in our favor, and the Taliban are absolutely right," Bukhari said in a telephone interview. "Western countries are also speaking out (against Taliban). Where were the Western leaders sleeping when the Muslim monument was destroyed?" he said. India has slammed the Taliban move. Vajpayee called it an insult to all religions, and said the Taliban "don''t appear to be Muslims." It was also criticized by Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, whose role has been alleged in the mosque destruction. Thousands of Hindu fundamentalists armed with truncheons, hammers and crowbars razed the 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya, a town 550 kilometers east of New Delhi, on Dec. 6, 1992. The destruction sparked riots across India between Hindus and Muslims that killed 2,000 people. Hindu prayers are now held in a makeshift temple at the site. Hindu nationalists claim the mosque was built by Babar, a medieval Muslim king, to desecrate the site revered by Hindus as the birthplace of Rama, the religion''s principal deity, in Ayodhya. Hard-line Muslim leaders deny this. The dispute is now before the Supreme Court. "The United Nations has sent an envoy to the Taliban. What did the U.N. do on Dec. 6?" Bukhari asked. The cleric said Muslims would honor the court''s decision but until then, the government should order the Hindu rituals to stop and the removal of Hindu idols from the site. In return, Bukhari said he would talk to the Taliban leader Mullah Omar and persuade him to send the remaining Buddhist statues to India. "They (Muslim leaders) are becoming bolder and challenging the government. It seems they are in collusion with the Taliban," said Goel, the Shiv Sena official. Bukhari retorted: "The Islamic world will not remain quiet. India cannot imagine what is going to happen to it if this oppression of Muslims continues. It will be unimaginable." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNESCO envoy says hope fading for Afghan statues ISLAMABAD, 3/7/2001 (AFP) :: United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan Pierre Lafrance believes there is little hope of persuading the Taliban militia to preserve the country''s ancient statues, a report said Wednesday. The special representative to UNESCO, the UN''s culture and education branch, told the BBC the fundamentalist Islamic militia had shown little interest reversing their order to destroy priceless Buddhist figures. But he cited "very reliable" sources as saying the famous Buddha figures in central Bamiyan province had not been damaged to the extent the militia has publicly claimed. The Taliban last week issued an edict ordering its troops to smash statues throughout the country to prevent idolatry, provoking an international outcry. Lafrance met top officials in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on Sunday and is waiting in neighbouring Pakistan until the end of the Eid Islamic holiday to see whether further talks are possible. "All doors are not closed. Continuing and new consultations are taking place among theologians in Afghanistan," Lafrance said in a statement released from UNESCO''s Paris headquarters after the talks. But Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said he could see no reason to stop the destruction. "I do not see any chance to change our decision and stop the demolition of these statues," he said following his meeting with Lafrance. Taliban officials were not available to comment Wednesday, the last day of the three-day Eid holiday in Afghanistan. They have said the Bamiyan Buddhas are being destroyed with everything from tanks to dynamite, but the province has been sealed to outsiders and their claims are impossible to verify. The two colossal Buddhas, including the largest standing Buddha in the world, were carved into sandstone cliffs near the provincial capital between the second and fifth centuries AD. The Taliban have been unmoved by the international outrage, including protests from Islamic quarters such as their closest ally Pakistan. US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday called the destruction "a tragedy" and "a crime against humankind." The UN Security Council also condemned the Taliban''s February 26 edict, which had led to "incomprehensible and wanton acts of violence on the cultural heritage of Afghanistan." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAPANESE ARTIST SEEKS TO SAVE AFGHANISTAN''S BUDDHA STATUES Reported by: Uli Schmetzer , Chicago Tribune TOKYO, 3/7/2001 :: In the global race to save Afghanistan''s giant Buddhist statues from destruction, artist Ikuo Hirayama thinks he has found a solution. One of Japan''s best-known painters, Hirayama has offered to pay the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist rulers of most of Afghanistan, to let him dismantle the Bamiyan valley statues some 90 miles from Kabul, carry them out of the country and reassemble them abroad. Hirayama''s offer came as a shocked Japan warned the Taliban that Tokyo is likely to reduce or suspend vital aid to the war-torn and famine-ravaged country if the statues are destroyed. Japan supplies the bulk of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. About two-thirds of Japan''s population, including Hirayama, is Buddhist. The statues, popularly known as Big Buddha and Little Buddha, long have been a target. Superstitious people damaged the faces centuries ago, believing it was a way to steal the statues'' spiritual powers. In the 1980s, during the war with the Soviets, an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade became embedded in the chest of the larger Buddha. But this Taliban edict to blow up the statues as symbols of "un-Islamic idolatry" has kindled international condemnation. Hirayama thinks cutting the statues into blocks and removing them from Afghanistan would allow the Taliban to keep its promise to rid the country of non-Islamic images and still obtain badly needed funds. At the same time, the international community would have saved the archeological treasures. "Many poor people in Afghanistan need food. If we carry out this project, we can hire local people to work for us. This will provide jobs and help them. When the situation becomes stable we can always bring those statues back to Afghanistan," the artist said. So far worldwide pleas to spare the statues have fallen on the deaf ears of a regime that came to power five years ago and threatened even then to purge the images of other religions. The eradication is part of the Taliban''s rigid interpretation of Islam. The fundamentalists also ban photos, films and any images taken of people''s faces. As idols of another religion, the Taliban feels the statues violate its interpretation of Islam. The Taliban''s reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, on Monday rejected the international condemnation of his edict to destroy not only the Buddhas, but all non-Islamic and ancient images. Omar''s order is reminiscent of the book-burning by Adolf Hitler''s Nazis and Mao Tse-tung''s fateful order to young Chinese: "Destroy the old and build the new." Mao''s order ushered in the Cultural Revolution that destroyed more of China''s ancient treasures than did 2,000 years of barbarian invasions. Hirayama, a special envoy for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was among international artists who lobbied the Taliban successfully in 1996 to suspend the initial demolition sentence issued against the Buddhas. The Taliban has already destroyed other hundreds of precious artifacts including, the artist said, some of the estimated 6,000 pieces of Buddhist artwork in the Kabul Museum. The director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York had pleaded in vain with Afghan officials to give the items to foreign museums. "We must protect the Bamiyan Buddhas," Hirayama said Tuesday. Over the past few days Hirayama has appealed through his contacts and through special shortwave radio broadcasts to the Taliban to save the Buddhas that have stood for centuries along the ancient Silk Road at a spot he calls "the crossroad of civilizations." Hirayama said that even though Taliban soldiers have fired at the monuments and badly damaged them, they can still be salvaged. Witnesses quoted in Pakistan said Taliban soldiers have used the statues for target practice. The abdomen of the smaller Buddha, known as the female Buddha, reportedly has been gouged away. One witness said a shell fired during a battle with opposition forces last fall had already torn a gaping hole into the chin part of the Big Buddha. Another shell left a crater in the Big Buddha''s groin. The Buddhas are carved out of sandstone. One stands 175 feet tall and dates to the 5th Century; the other 120 feet tall and dates to the 3rd Century. Both tower inside niches carved into the stone at Bamiyan. "I have started a campaign to ask for donations and signatures. I am not doing this for religious but for cultural reasons," Hirayama said. "This is part of humanity''s cultural heritage that goes beyond any one religion." The statues are considered a link between Western culture, represented by Greek sculpture that came with Alexander the Great''s incursions deep into Central Asia, and the East, represented by the birth of the Buddha in the 6th Century B.C. However, for the zealots who rule Afghanistan today, the very existence of the Buddhas has constituted a religious offense. While still fighting to control central Afghanistan in 1996, the local Taliban commander, Abdul Wahid, told visitors that as soon as his troops captured the Bamiyan valley they had orders to blow up the statues. "Our religion is a heavenly religion and we have no need of these things here. These things are un-Islamic," Wahid said at the time. Over the years periodic threats to obliterate the statues were used as bartering tools by a regime that has failed to obtain international recognition, except from a handful of Islamic nations. In recent days, however, most of the Islamic world, including Pakistan and Iran, urged the Taliban to spare the statues. The U.S. State Department also expressed concern via Pakistani diplomatic channels. Throughout Afghanistan''s history the two Buddha statues have been venerated not only for their gigantic size but also for their location on the Silk Road, the ancient conduit for East-West trade. The rock face that contains the statues became a coveted resting place for Buddhist monks who took their religion to China, Korea, Japan, Tibet and Mongolia and found faith and solace at the feet of the statues. In ancient times the Big Buddha was painted red with areas covered with gold. Little Buddha was painted blue with a gilt face and chest. Both were decorated with jewels. Hundreds of years ago, thieves are thought to have scraped away the gold and snatched the gems. Today there''s nothing left of the paint, the gold or the jewels. Soon, there may be nothing left of the Buddhas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Common Afghans to pay the price for Taliban''s defiance Reported by: Nadeem Yaqub, Asia Times Online PESHAWAR, Pakistan , 3/7/2001 :: Afghanistan''s puritanical Islamic militia has shown again that it cares little for world opinion, but it is the people of the drought and war-ravaged nation who will pay the price for the latest act of defiance. The little international goodwill that the Taliban had earned by banning poppy cultivation, has now been forfeited by their decision to demolish the giant ancient Buddha statues in Bamiyan, 130 kilometers west of Kabul. The plight of common Afghans are expected to worsen as the international community penalizes the Taliban regime. According to an Afghan news agency report, Japan has already warned that aid to the country could be affected because of the Taliban''s refusal to listen to the world''s pleas not to destroy the Bamiyan statues. Political observers here say that this time the Taliban may even have alienated their steadfast supporters in Pakistan. Maulana Samiul Haq, a leading Taliban supporter in Pakistan, had advised the Taliban to seek the opinion of top Islamic scholars before taking a decision on destroying the statues. Haq, who heads Pakistan''s biggest Islamic seminary in Akora Khattak near Peshawar, said the Bamiyan relics could be sold to help Afghanistan''s shattered economy. Pakistan''s leading daily, The Dawn said: "It would appear that the Taliban are cutting at their own roots. Islam is a religion of harmony and peaceful coexistence ... Buddha was an apostle of peace and non-violence. Certainly he deserves better treatment than what he has hitherto received at the hands of the blind zealots in Afghanistan." Pakistan, one of three countries to recognize the Taliban after it overran Kabul over four years ago, pleaded in vain with the Taliban. "We hope that the Afghan government will show the spirit of tolerance enjoined upon by Islam as well as respect for international sentiment in this regard," said a Foreign Office spokesman in Islamabad. Media in neighboring Iran came down heavily on the Taliban''s decision. "Islam has never preached the destruction of objects that embody the belief and history of millions of people throughout the world," said the Iran News. The Taliban''s decision to destroy the Bamiyan relics came at a time when thousands of Afghans are desperate for international assistance in the wake of drought and war. The UN''s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned of starvation deaths as drought and war give rise to near famine conditions in the country. The 23-year-old conflict in Afghanistan has devastated the farming-based economy and uprooted millions of people from their homes. A series of UN sanctions have added to the miseries of the people. Before the UN sanctions were applied, Afghanistan''s major source of revenue was the customs duties on goods airlifted into the country. The ban on Ariana flights put an end to this. The outlawing of poppy cultivation and the drought has now severely affected the income from farming. The order to destroy all statues in the country is now robbing Afghanistan of its glorious cultural past that could have been a major source of income. The Bamiyan Buddha statues were one of Afghanistan''s main tourist attractions till the December 1979 Soviet invasion and the subsequent civil war. Even as the world is at a loss to understand why the Taliban turned a deaf ear to the pleas of the international community, some think that the decision was driven more by political than religious considerations. Hamid Mir, editor of leading Pakistani Urdu daily Ausaf and an expert on Afghan affairs, believes that the Taliban got angered by the world''s offers to save the relics instead of helping the Afghan people who are dying of hunger. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) offered US$100 million to look after the monuments and relics. The Taliban were also reportedly trying to "avenge" the December 1992 demolition of the medieval Babri mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya by Hindu zealots. In a February 26 decree, Taliban supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar declared: "All statues remaining in various parts of the country must be broken ... because they represent gods of infidels." The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the name given to the country by the Taliban, has enjoyed a unique cultural heritage reflecting influences of Persia, Greece, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Statues have been destroyed in several cities besides the capital city. Among the prime targets is the Kabul Museum, which has a treasure trove of an estimated 6,000 pieces of Buddhist art. Several priceless Afghan antiquities were smuggled out of the country in the past two decades. A large number of rare pieces of stolen Afghan statues found their way into bordering Pakistan. Peshawar became a major market for such pieces. The two Bamiyan Buddha statues stood 53 and 38 meters tall respectively and were hewn from cliffs in the heart of the Hindukush Mountains in the central town of Bamiyan. The world''s tallest Buddha statues, these were carved centuries before the arrival of Islam to the country, when Afghanistan was a center of Buddhist learning and pilgrimage.
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| | Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 08:01 am Imam Bukhari okays Taliban''s Babri excuse Reported by: The Times of India NEW DELHI, 3/7/2001 :: Jama Masjid''s Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Tuesday said if the Taliban''s move to destroy ancient statues of Buddha in Bamiyan (Afghanistan) was in retaliation to the demolition of Babri Masjid, he supported the Taliban regime. In his sermon to about 2 lakh devotees who gathered for the Eid prayers here, Bukhari asserted that the Taliban had destroyed the statues in retaliation to the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya. And if this was the case, he would openly support this action. ``Taliban''s spokesperson had told the United Nations that his government''s actions were a way to get even with the BJP government in India which demolished the Babri mosque on December 6, 1992. I cannot condemn Taliban because they are fighting for our cause,'''' he said. He said if the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government agreed to remove Hindu idols from the premises of the disputed structure in Ayodhya, he would consider negotiations with the Taliban to send the ancient Buddhist statues to India. According to Imam Bukhari, the Vajpyayee government had no moral right to condemn Taliban''s actions. ``Vajpayee is speaking against the Taliban when in fact his own party was involved in the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He did not give lectures on communalism like he is doing now. Even the international pressure that is being built upon the Taliban was remarkably absent when our mosque was razed. Why didn''t the United Nation react then?'''' Bukhari said as the Indian government has failed to protect Muslims in India, they were now looking towards the Islamic world. ``The successive Congress governments and now the BJP have not cared about the interest of Muslims. So if we seek help from the larger Islamic world, they should not have any objections,'''' he added.
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| | Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 09:16 am Asad WEll we made a little progress here. In your round about way you concede that Muslims have at least the same, and perhaps more, disdain with Kufaars as some kufaars have with Islam. You say Bin Laden, murdering cut-throat that he is, doesn't compromise when it comes to Islam (I disagree but that's irrelevant). OK fine, he won'T compromise. And the Afghanis won't compromise and turn him over. Then reap the whirl-wind. That's the way the game is played. As long as they harbor Bin Laden, they're gonna take hard. If they don't like it then cough him up or kick him out. Right or wrong don't matter in this case. The Afghanis want to be dead right, that's fine. There is NOTHING the US could ever do to placate someone like Bin Laden, even were we so inclined. We could leave Saudi Arabia, we could stop supporting Israel, and it wouldn't matter. His raison da etre is bombing and killing. As for the Afghanis destroying their statues and the discussion about our conflict with Iraq, what on Gods green earth does the Israeli conflict have to do with our conflict with Iraq??? Nothing is the answer to that. Sometimes, in the course of these discussions, I think you don't hear a word I say - or forget everything. If I told you once I told you a million times, I am a friend of Islam, not an enemy. Just because I don't personally subscribe doesn't mean I think it's ••••. I don't subscribe to the Wiccan faith either, but I think elements of it have merits and I'm not on a personal crusade to convert them or wipe them out or anything either. YOU are Somali. As near as I can tell you have no dog in the Palestinian fight, just like I don't. I basically agree with most of your points on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict except your absolutism on the subject and your failure to understand what reasonable courses of action by each side could bring the conflict to a halt and let everyone get on with life. However, this conflict has nothing to do with Bin Laden who is Saudi. Oh but wait, the Palestinians are Muslims and he is Muslim. If the Palestinians were Bhudist he wouldn't give a rats ass about them and neither would you. Every time we talk about any disagreement with the US it's back to the Palestinian conflict, as if that were the Alpha and Omega of all world injustices. As for Somalia, it may be backward and poverty stricken, but it's also beautiful and Somalis are cool people. And I know you don't condone the dragging of the body, which is after all very un-Islamic. Although truth be told I dind't get nearly as excited about it as everyone else did. If you want MAC's grand plan, I think we should cut all aid to Israel and the Palestinians and let them stew in their own juices. I also think we should Arabize the Iraqi problem, they need to live with the dick and we can ensure the flow of the oil in any case. I also think we're getting close to doing COA #2 because the Saudis and the Turks are beginning to protest the sanctions and the no-fly zones. So I think we need to let the Saudis and the Turks deal with him (and the Kuwaitis of course). They have the most to lose by his irredentist claims.
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| | Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 10:46 am "Asad WEll we made a little progress here. In your round about way you concede that Muslims have at least the same, and perhaps more, disdain with Kufaars as some kufaars have with Islam." lol------perhaps more. ;-) i didn't concede anything. i said if it is true, i say vise versa. naturally, muslims hate idols and when they say something about these idols------and say there is no god but Allah, the kufaars disdain (despise) the muslims, right? ;-) "You say Bin Laden, murdering cut-throat that he is, doesn't compromise when it comes to Islam (I disagree but that's irrelevant)." the non-muslims who hate him say he is confrontational and inflexible-----that he does not compromise islam. ;-) "OK fine, he won'T compromise." lol "And the Afghanis won't compromise and turn him over. Then reap the whirl-wind." the prophet and his few followers were boycotted alo by the idol worshippers in makkah, but they never compromised islam. ;-) "That's the way the game is played. As long as they harbor Bin Laden, they're gonna take hard." yes, as long as US is sponsoring terrorist state (israel), there will be many more bin laden who will not compromise. ;-) "If they don't like it then cough him up or kick him out. Right or wrong don't matter in this case." i know that wicked people dont' care about right or wrong. ;-) "The Afghanis want to be dead right, that's fine. There is NOTHING the US could ever do to placate someone like Bin Laden, even were we so inclined." i think osma bin laden does not want to compromise (pacify) when his muslim brothers are being terrorized with the help of US. ;-) "We could leave Saudi Arabia, we could stop supporting Israel, and it wouldn't matter. His raison da etre is bombing and killing." i don't think US would stop supporting israeli terrorists and i don't think saudi royal family want to invite osama bin laden to saudi arabia. he might preach islam and wake up sleeping saudi arabian people. ;-) "As for the Afghanis destroying their statues and the discussion about our conflict with Iraq, what on Gods green earth does the Israeli conflict have to do with our conflict with Iraq??? Nothing is the answer to that." what does US have to do with statues in afghanistain? nothing, right? ;-) "Sometimes, in the course of these discussions, I think you don't hear a word I say - or forget everything." lol. i can say the same things about you. ;-) "If I told you once I told you a million times, I am a friend of Islam, not an enemy. Just because I don't personally subscribe doesn't mean I think it's ••••." lol. who cares what you claim to be. you and i just talking. you are the one who claims that muslims hate non-muslims. ;-) "I don't subscribe to the Wiccan faith either, but I think elements of it have merits" i believe wiccan faith have no merits. ;-) "and I'm not on a personal crusade to convert them or wipe them out or anything either." am i? ;-) "YOU are Somali." and a muslim. ;-) "As near as I can tell you have no dog in the Palestinian fight, just like I don't." yes, and you and i talk about what is going on there, right? ;-) "I basically agree with most of your points on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict except your absolutism on the subject" where is the absolutism on the subject? i say it like it is. i never told you that you could not say anything, did i? ;-) "and your failure to understand what reasonable courses of action by each side could bring the conflict to a halt and let everyone get on with life." i think you are failing to understand things i'm telling you. the only way the conflict in that region is going to end is when the israeli terrorists with the help of US stop terrorizing palestianin people. ;-) "However, this conflict has nothing to do with Bin Laden who is Saudi." osam talks about the blight of muslims all over the world. he went to fight in afghanistan when the russian was there. did the afghanistian conflict with the russiain have anything to do with osama bin laden? ;-) "Oh but wait, the Palestinians are Muslims and he is Muslim." the israeli terrorists are non-mulims and the US is non-muslim, right? ;-) "If the Palestinians were Bhudist he wouldn't give a rats ass about them and neither would you." the same way---if the israelis were muslims like afghanistain, the US would not give help right? ;-) "Every time we talk about any disagreement with the US it's back to the Palestinian conflict, as if that were the Alpha and Omega of all world injustices." lol. and every time we talk about israelis and what they are doing to the palestinian, i remember hitler and what he did to them, right? ;-) "As for Somalia, it may be backward and poverty stricken, but it's also beautiful and Somalis are cool people." but they kill themselves, right? ;-) "And I know you don't condone the dragging of the body, which is after all very un-Islamic." yes "Although truth be told I dind't get nearly as excited about it as everyone else did." i was not poignant. i have seen worst than that. "If you want MAC's grand plan, I think we should cut all aid to Israel and the Palestinians and let them stew in their own juices. "I also think we should Arabize the Iraqi problem, they need to live with the dick and we can ensure the flow of the oil in any case." I also think we're getting close to doing COA #2 because the Saudis and the Turks are beginning to protest the sanctions and the no-fly zones. So I think we need to let the Saudis and the Turks deal with him (and the Kuwaitis of course). They have the most to lose by his irredentist claims." the US will not do that. it is their interest to help and sponsor israeli terrorism. ;-)
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| | Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 11:21 am "You say Bin Laden, murdering cut-throat that he is, doesn't compromise when it comes to Islam (I disagree but that's irrelevant)." you say osma bin laden is a murdering cut-throat, but i do not believe that he is what you say he is. i believe he is a confrontational fellow and inflexible-----that he does not compromise islam, but i don't believe he is murderer. when it comes to trusting between two confliction reports----one from the enemy of islam and one from a muslim, i don't trust the enemy of muslim and islam. i believe he is innocent of the things you accused him. i heard him deny what you guys accuse of him. i don't believe the propaganda of his enemy. ;-)
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| | Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 06:57 pm Reported by: Famiglia Cristiana Milan in Italian, 3/7/2001 (BBC) :: Text of interview with Afghanistan''s opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masud by Raffaele Ciriello in northern Afghanistan; date not given: "''I Will give you Bin-Ladin. He is only a terrorist'' ". Text of report published by Italian weekly newspaper Famiglia Cristiana on 4 March; first paragraph is Famiglia Cristiana introduction. A. Raffaele Ciriello, who took the photographs which accompany this report, interviewed Ahmad Shah Masud. Their talks took place on more than one occasion, in places such as Darqad, Kwaja Bahuddin, and Dasht-e Qala, in the north of Afghanistan, in the part of the country which is not under the control of the Taleban. It was not easy to follow the white Toyota, driven by his faithful attendant Yasin, aboard which Commander Masud is continually on the move. But now, after almost two weeks, the Lion of Panshir (the nom de guerre which Masud, born in 1953 in the village of Jangalak, in Panshir, earned for himself in fighting against the Russians) is finally willing to answer my questions. [Ciriello] Commander, your troops are the last obstacle preventing the Taleban from placing all of Afghanistan under their control. Are there hopes for peace negotiations? [Masud] Not long ago I spoke on the phone with Mullah Omar (the leader of the Taleban [Famiglia Cristiana editor''s note]), and I suggested that he call a democratic election. At first he agreed to the idea, but then he changed his mind and told me that it would not be compatible with the spirit of Islam. By contrast, we are willing to back free elections after the institution of a Loya Jerga, an assembly which brings together representatives of all the ethnic components of Afghanistan. If the Taleban are convinced, as they say, that they have the support of the whole population, and especially of the Pashtun, the most numerous ethnic group, why are they scared of elections? Why do they continue to prefer the path of weapons even though they know that without the backing of the Pakistanis, and the men of Bin Laden, they could not hold out for a week? [Ciriello] The situation of the refugees is more and more desperate. What are you planning to do? [Masud] There is a large number of refugees today in the Panshir valley. These are mostly residents of the plain of Shomali, where the Taleban, in their advance last summer, adopted a scorched earth policy, destroying villages and plantations. They have been joined by the refugees from Taloqan. With a few exceptions, the presence of international humanitarian organizations has been scant, while the winter has been very harsh. We can certainly not rely forever on the sense of hospitality and on the generosity of Afghans alone. [Ciriello] With regard to Bin-Ladin: international sanctions have been justified on the basis of his presence in Afghanistan. What action would you take in the event of a victory? Is it possible that the Taleban might decide to sacrifice him so as to soften the sanctions? [Masud] Usamah Bin-Ladin is a terrorist, and must be treated as such. He is linked to the Taleban by a highly intricate network of interests, and apart from anything else Mola Omar has married one of his daughters. Al Qaida (the military formation of Bin-Ladin) is deploying 3,500 men against us, under the command of Abu Kubab. No amount of international pressure can persuade the Taleban to hand over Bin-Ladin, something which I, by contrast, promise to do as soon as the circumstances allow me to do so. [Ciriello] You mentioned Pakistani military aid for the Taleban. Can you cite one or two concrete examples? [Masud] From this point of view, thing got worse for us as of last summer, when the Taleban number two, Mola Rabbani, secured reinforcements from Pakistani President Musharraf numbering over 10,000 fighters, including at least 2,000 troops from the regular army. The first offensive of the summer, on the plain of Shomali north of Kabul, was led by Pakistani Brig-Gen Sayed-ul-Zafar, and the difference was clear: For the first time, we found ourselves faced with armoured forces manoeuvred with great tactical sense We repelled as many as six attacks, and the Taleban suspended the offensive, and their leaders went to Pakistan for a series of consultations with their allies. In the following weeks the Taleban attacked Taloqan, where fighting went on for 33 days, and from where we retreated only to save pointless suffering on the part of the population. We lost 300 men during the siege, but the enemy lost at least 2,000. And among these was also Pakistan''s famous colonel, Jamil, who was later commemorated at the army stadium in Peshawar as a victim of a heroic action against the Indians in Kashmir. Several times we have provided the UN with the names of Pakistani troops whom we have captured, and the units to which they belonged, and even the registration numbers of the vehicles which bring arms and munitions to the Taleban from Pakistan, camouflaging them as humanitarian convoys. In some cases they have even brought in tanks. [Ciriello] Do you not fear that the regime in Kabul might be recognized by the UN sooner or later? [Masud] No, because the violations of human rights by the Taleban are all too clear. Not to mention the cultivation and trafficking of opium, which allows our enemies to finance their highly costly war. [Ciriello] And how do you finance the war? [Masud] For a long time now we have been profitably exploiting the lapis lazuli mines in Panshir. Also, we mint our own currency, the afghan, with which we buy arms and munitions on many markets. Security Council accuses Afghan factions of lack of care for people UNITED NATIONS, USA, 3/7/2001 (AFP) :: The Security Council on Tuesday accused Afghanistan''s ruling Taliban militia and its military opponents of ignoring the threat of famine facing more than one million of their people. In a statement, members of the council "expressed their grave concern at the famine and continued suffering of the Afghan people, who are facing the worst drought in a generation." They deplored the ongoing civil war and "the absence of effective government that might address this humanitarian disaster" and added: "The factions'' continuing fighting while the Afghan people suffer demonstrates a profound lack of concern for the very people in whose name they fight." Earlier, the council was briefed by the humanitarian coordinator of the United Nations, Kenzo Oshima, who said the Taliban "seem to be consumed by their immediate twin goals of military gain and religious progress." In remarks prepared for his briefing, Oshima said the Taliban "appear on the whole to be both unable and unwilling to cater to the basic concerns and needs of people under their control." He estimated that more than one million people faced the immediate threat of famine, and said "the vulnerable are dependent entirely on foreign aid and the generosity of their extended families." In its statement, the council urged the donor community to respond generously to the UN''s appeal for 250 million dollars which Oshima said was needed to address the most urgent basic needs of Afghans for the rest of the year. It also condemned the Taliban edict of February 26 ordering the destruction of non-Islamic shrines and artifacts in Afghanistan. The edict had led to "incomprehensible and wanton acts of violence on the cultural heritage of Afghanistan," the statement said. The statement was read to reporters by the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, Volodymyr Yel''chenko, who holds the rotating council presidency this month. UNESCO urges Egypt''s Mubarak to intervene to save Buddha statues CAIRO, Egypt , 3/7/2001 (AP Wire) :: UNESCO urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday to try to persuade the ruling militia in Afghanistan not to destroy the country''s Buddhist statues. Egypt''s Middle East News Agency reported that UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura had phoned Mubarak and asked him to intervene with the Taliban, whose leadership decided last week to destroy all ancient statues in Afghanistan as idolatrous and un-Islamic. Matsuura told Mubarak that the huge statues of Buddha in Afghanistan are part of the world''s heritage and should be preserved, MENA reported. Mubarak replied he would instruct the Egyptian government to contact the Taliban and ask it to stop the destruction of the statues, the agency reported. Egypt does not have diplomatic ties with the Taliban and it is unclear how it would intervene with the militia. The Taliban is recognized by only three states as the government of Afghanistan. It controls 95 percent of the country and imposes a strict, conservative interpretation of Islam. Leading Muslim scholars have condemned the decision to destroy Afghanistan''s pre-Islamic artworks, although some believe the decision is politically motivated by the Taliban''s resentment over its international isolation. Matsuura has approached other Muslim heads of state to try to save the statues, in particular a giant Buddha that is carved into a mountainside at Bamiyam, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) west of Kabul.
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| | Thursday, March 08, 2001 - 02:28 am Asad Listen carefully to me, because on this topic I know what I'm taling about. Osama Bin Laden would rape your mother and cut your throat if he thought he could benefit from it. He is cut of the same clth as Menachim Begin, Carlos the Jackal, and hundreds of other nameless, faithless, soul-less motherfuckers. These guys USE religion or political philosophy to become self-important and often also to enrich themselves. They are evil. UBL is nothing special. Don't get caught up in thinking that because he is using Islam to prop himself he is something special. Can you picture the Prophet (PBUH) sponsoring the bombing of an embassay indiscriminately killing 200 plus people??? BTW if he shows up in Somalia, I'll hunt him down myself. Show me the money baby!!! I may not be able to operate in Afghanistan, but in the Somali deserts I'm right at home. I think you are correct, the US government is unlikely to abandon Israel. This is called inertia. The Jewish Lobby is too strong and the Palestinian methods are too stupid. You are incorrect in that it's in the US interests to support Israel however. The inverse is actually true. This is one of those weird cases where momentum and events have prevented us from doing what is in our interest - which is what I already pointed out to you - Cut 'em loose. They cost us a fortune and they are constantly costing us political capital with Muslim countries where we actually have an interest - like Saudi Arabia for example. BTW do you ever get up to DC? I'm thinking of heading there in July to visit some Somali friends and I would like to hook up wih you if possible. There are other guys there who are thinking of going back to Somalia with me, maybe we could meet up and talk about it in person.
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| | Thursday, March 08, 2001 - 08:56 am "Asad Listen carefully to me, because on this topic I know what I'm taling about. Osama Bin Laden would rape your mother and cut your throat if he thought he could benefit from it." lol---rape our mother and cut your throat. ;-). i told you that i don't when it comes to trusting between two confliction reports----one from the enemy of islam and one from a muslim, i don't trust the enemy of muslims and islam. i don't believe the propaganda of his enemy. ;-) "He is cut of the same clth as Menachim Begin, Carlos the Jackal, and hundreds of other nameless, faithless, soul-less motherfuckers." about about the israeli terrorists and those who support them? ;-) "These guys USE religion or political philosophy to become self-important and often also to enrich themselves." lol-----political philosophy. ;-) including mad mad, right? didn't mad mac say that is what he uses-----fulfiling the US interests? ;-) "They are evil." and you are not? ;-) "UBL is nothing special." you know what i siad------when it comes to osama bin laden and you or your kind. ;-) "Don't get caught up in thinking that because he is using Islam to prop himself he is something special. Can you picture the Prophet (PBUH) sponsoring the bombing of an embassay indiscriminately killing 200 plus people???" i don't think you can sell me the propaganda of his enemy. ;-) "BTW if he shows up in Somalia, I'll hunt him down myself. Show me the money baby!!! I may not be able to operate in Afghanistan, but in the Somali deserts I'm right at home." are you sure you would not be the second dead american boy being dragged on the streets of mogadishu? ;-) "I think you are correct, the US government is unlikely to abandon Israel. This is called inertia. " so you are saying your so called MAC's grand plan was a hoax? ;-) "The Jewish Lobby is too strong and the Palestinian methods are too stupid." if the palestinian are too stupid, the jews in germany were too stupid, right? ;-) "You are incorrect in that it's in the US interests to support Israel however. The inverse is actually true. This is one of those weird cases where momentum and events have prevented us from doing what is in our interest - which is what I already pointed out to you - Cut 'em loose. They cost us a fortune and they are constantly costing us political capital with Muslim countries where we actually have an interest - like Saudi Arabia for example." so what you are sayign is that the US is really the stupid one here in their methods----for not knowing what is in their best interests, right? ;-) "BTW do you ever get up to DC? I'm thinking of heading there in July to visit some Somali friends and I would like to hook up wih you if possible." the last time i was close to that area was last month (in baltimore) and i don't think i am going to be returning there any time soon. "There are other guys there who are thinking of going back to Somalia with me, maybe we could meet up and talk about it in person." where in somalia------mogadishu? if i'm going to back to somalia anytime soon, i'm not going back to mogadishu. if you are not afraid for your life, i'm. ;-)
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| | Thursday, March 08, 2001 - 02:07 pm YES!! ISLAM!! PAST!! PRESENT!! AND FOREVER!! ALLAHU-AKBAR!! ALLAHU-AKBAR!! ALLAHU-AKBAR!! NOTHING CAN STOP ISLAM FROM REACHING IT'S DESTINIY WHICH IS TO INGULF THE INTIRE WORLD!! OH WHAT A CENTURY IT IS!! ALLAHU-AKBAR!! JIHAD!! JIHAD!! JIHAD!! NO WORDS NO RESPONCES, AND NO DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT THE ACTIONS OF TALIBAN WILL STOP THE VERY DUTY EVERY MUSLIM IS SUPPOSED TO BE PERFORMING,...MAY ALLAH BLESS THE TALIBAN, THE CHECHYEN REBELS,AND OSAMA BIN LADEN!! ALLAHU-AKBAR!! ALLAHU-AKBAR!1ALLAHU-AKBAR!!
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| | Thursday, March 08, 2001 - 03:47 pm 100% MUSLIM PURE AND UNCUT: You are cut somewhere all right: you have had a frontal lobotomy. Oh, and there's the circumsion business to think about. LOL.
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| | Friday, March 09, 2001 - 01:54 am "Oh, and there's the circumsion business to think about." speaking of the circumcision of girls, i heard that many non-muslim and also african pagan girls experience it. so, pragmaticgal, as an african lady, how did you escape the cut when you were growning up in mogadishu------that is if you are uncut. ;-)
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| | Friday, March 09, 2001 - 09:47 am DO I DETECT SELF DENIEL IN PRAGMATICGIRL'S RESPONCE TO MY POST, IF I CHOSE TO PLACE "PURE AND UNCUT" BESIDES MY NAME IT IS NOT TO BE UNDERSTOOD THAT I INCOUNTERED SOME FALSE MEDICAL TREATMENT CONCOTED IN THE MIND OF PROGMATICGIRL.IT IS INTENDED TO STATE THAT I TRY TO PRACTICE THE DEEN TO THE UTMOST OF MY ABILITY.FURTHER MORE IF YOU WANT TO RESPONDE TO MY POST IN SUCH A WAY THAT IMPLIES BELITTLING ME.I COULD SAY WITH ALL CANDIDNESS THAT MY FRONTAL LOBES ARE DOING JUST FINE,AND IF THEIR DAMAGE WAS REPAIRED BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT MY POST WAS CORRECT IN RESPECT TO THE ISLAMIC DUTY "WE" AS MUSLIM SHOULD BE UNDERTAKING IN OUR EVERY ACTION OF OUR EXSISTANCE IN THIS LIFE,IN ORDER TO REACH -SUCCESSFULLY-THE NEXT LIFE,THEN I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE HAD "FRONTAL LABOTOMY".SO IN CONCLUSION NEXT TIME DON'T RESPONDE NEGATIVLY,BEACAUSE IT'S THAT VERY ATITUDE THAT HAS LANDED US(THE MUSLIM UMMAH)IN THE SIDUATION WE'RE IN NOW. WA-SALAAMU CALAYKUM.
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| | Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 07:25 am 100% Muslim Pure and Uncut: I didn't mean to belittle you by my post; I was just making a diagnosis based on your symptoms: endless screaming (CAPS & exclamation marks), knee-jerk reaction (requires no higher thought process to chant ALLAHU-AKBAR!! ALLAHU-AKBAR!! JIHAD!! JIHAD!!) and programmed rage. Obviously you are missing a major analytical and comprehension center in your brain. Why else would you say things without thinking about them first? Has it occured to you that maybe, just maybe, Allah would not be pleased with someone who associates Allah's name with murder and brutality ALL the time? He probably thinks Jihad is good on occasion, but perhaps he would prefer a creative, productive Ummah to one who's defining characteristic in the eyes of the world is war, poverty and destruction.
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| | Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 08:33 am Asad Dude, I hope you do better in recognizing friends over enemies in real life than on the internet. I can see you've never spent any time in the company of truly evil and dangerous men. This guy is BAD NEWS. Same with these Al Itihad guys. If you back stay away from them. This is good friendly advice and if self-preservation is an instinct you possess you'll take it to heart. Yes I'm going back to Benadir. No, I'm not afraid. Why should I be? I have friends there. I am not Darood.
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| | Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 08:51 am PRAMATICGAL........ FIRST ALLOW ME TO STATE THAT I ACCEPT YOUR "APOLIGY",SECOND TO EVEN IMPLY"HAS IT ACCURED TO YOU THAT MABEY,JUST MABEY ALLAH WOULD NOT BE PLEASED WITH SOMEONE WHO ASSOCIATES ALLAH(S.W.T.) NAME WITH MURDER AND BRUTALITY ALL THE TIME?" ISTAKFUURLLAH I WOULDN'T EVEN DREAM OF ATTEMPTING TO ENTERTAIN SUCH A BLASPHEMOUS THOUGHT,AND AS FOR MURDER AND BRUTALITY.MUSLIM HISTORY STATES THAT THE KAFIRS STARTED THIS "JIHAD" BY KILLING US FIRST(NABI ADEN(A.S.) SON WHO WAS A KAFIR KILLED HIS BROTHER WHO WAS A MUSLIM.THAT WHY NABI MUHAMMED(S.A.W.S.) SAID THAT JIHAD WILL NOT STOP UNTILL THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.SECOND OF ALL YOUR STATEMENT"HE PROPABLY THINKS" JIHAD IS GOOD ON OCCASION. WHAT THE IS THAT!! ARE YOU MADD TO EVEN FATHEM A POSSIBILITY TO SUGGEST A FLAW IN THE ALL-MIGHTY AND ALL-WISE PLANS ,AND DINVINE FATE,WHICH YOU CLEARLY TRY TO CONVINCE ME BY YOUR STAEMENT "BUT PERHAPES HE WOULD PREFER,A CREATIVE MORE PRODUCTIVE UMMAH TO ONE WHO CHARACTERISTICS IN TH LIGHT OF THE WORLD IS WAR,POVERTY,AND DESTRUCTION" SUBXAAN'ALLAH!!..IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR THE ONE WHO NEED "FRONTAL LABOTOMY" COMPLETE WITH A FEW YEARS A INTENCE ISLAMIC THEROPY.NABI MOHAMMED SAID(S.A.W.S.)"IF YOU LOVE ME EXPECT EXTREME POVERTY", ALSO THE SUCCESS OF THE BELIEVERS IS OUTLINED IN THE FIRST ELEVEN AYAHS OF SURAH AL-AHZAB,SURAH FUSLILAT,ANS SURAH MUMINUUN. AGAIN ALLOW ME TO REMIND MY BEFUDDLE THINKING SISTER PRAGMATICGAL,ALLAHA9(S.W.T.) SAID "I HAVE PRESCRIBED FIGHTING FOR YOU AND YOU DISLIKE IT" THOSE WHO REFUSE THE BATTLE FIELD ARE THOSE SPOKIN ABOUT IN SURAH MUHAMMED(S.A.W.S.)I SEAK REFUGE IN ALLAH(S.W.T.) FROM SUCH A HARAAM ACTION.I KNOW MY DUTY TO ALAAH(S.W.T.) DO YOU PROAGMATIC GAL? I WOULD THINK THAT IF I STATED SOMETHING "UN-ISLAMIC" THAT AT LEAST YOU WOULD REFUT IT AND CORRECT ME WITH QUR'AN AND SUNNA,BUT SINCE I DIDN'T YOU CAN'T REFUTE DIVINE QUR'ANIC AYAH AND AUTHENTIC SUNNA OF MUHAMMED(S.A.W.S.)AND IF YOU CAN'T REFUTE THE EVIDENCE WITH QUR'AN AND SUNNA THEN THE EVIDENCE "MUST BE EXCEPTED". PRAGMATICGAL SEAK REFUGE IN ALLAH(S.W.T.) FROM SHAITON'S WISPERING,WE ARE ALL NOTHING IN THE SIGHT OF ALLAH(S.W.T.)SO NEVER SUGGEST TO BE SOME SORT OF ADVISER TO ALLAH'S(S.W.T.) SURPREME "ALL-WISE" KNOWLEGE. I HAVE NOTHING PERSONAL AGAINST YOU PRAGMATICGAL BUT LISTEN CAREFULLY AND HEED THE WARNING OF ALLAH(S.W.T.) TO THOSE WHO INSIST ON USING YOUR OWN THINKING AFTER "ALLAH(S.W.T.) AND HIS MESSENGER (S.A.W.S.) HAS MADE A DECREE" OR DECISION ON ANYTHING. WA-SALAAMU CALAYKUM.
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| | Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 10:16 am "Asad Dude, I hope you do better in recognizing friends over enemies in real life" in real life, i know and recongzine who are my real friends. ;-) "than on the internet." who are my friends on the internet?------can't recongzine anyone on the internet; i have never seen any "friends" on the internet. ;-) "I can see you've never spent any time in the company of truly evil and dangerous men." i'm glad that i have not. "This guy is BAD NEWS." to his enemy, right? ;-) "Same with these Al Itihad guys." i don't know them, but are they also in list of "terrorists" the US are after? ;-) "If you back stay away from them." if i see them doing wrong, i'll tell them or i ran away from them, but if i see them doing good i'll be with them. ;-) "This is good friendly advice" are you my interent "friend"? can i trust this internet "friend" who said he makes his living in killing people? ;-). "and if self-preservation is an instinct you possess you'll take it to heart." should i take an advice man who makes his living in killing people, a terrorist? my instinct tells me that i should not. ;-) "Yes I'm going back to Benadir." are you going to take your guns with you? ;-) "No, I'm not afraid." that is good. ;-) "Why should I be?" i always here foriengs getting killed in that area. ;-) "I have friends there." how about enemies too? ;-) "I am not Darood." you are a gaal who killed somalis. ;-)
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| | Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 03:10 pm Asad. How about someone you met on the net and talked to you over the phone like I did?. Doesn't that make me closer to you than the rest lol?. Man, you scare me. Mad. As much as you try to sound intellectual, you flounder most of the time in your pointmaking confusingly and rightfully so since you lack a good source of evidence. Except your Khaliil Gibran poitman. Now you telling the muslims who is their true enemy???. I have my at most respect for Taliban and so for Al-Itihad. Bin Laden is a brother to the real muslims don't you forget that as well. Spare us from your hypocritic lectures and nice wanna be fakery of yours. Do you understand non-of-your-bussiness.
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| | Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 04:56 pm -----who are my friends on the internet?------can't recongzine anyone on the internet; i have never seen any "friends" on the internet ;-)----- "Asad. How about someone you met on the net and talked to you over the phone like I did? Doesn't that make me closer to you than the rest lol?" still i can not recognize you because we have never seen each other. ;-) "Man, you scare me." don't be. ;-)
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| | Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 07:24 pm Bro Anon, quick question: I have seen you use this sing ;-) a lot, What do they stand for?. Any specific meanings for them?. Just curious saxib.
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| | Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 04:43 am PG, From Abu Hurairah(may Allah be pleased with hin) that the prophet(May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him)said: "Truly the religion is simple and no one ever makes it difficult except that it would overcome him" If you have time purchase this book called "The Religion is simple". It is written by a muslim scholar called Fatima Majeed. It won't hurt you reading it. You can order it from Ze Majeed's Publishing 30 East Coast Road#02-31 Paramount shopping Centre Singapore 1542
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| | Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 08:20 am Did ANON say, "i believe he is a confrontational fellow and inflexible"......LOOOOOOOL Give us a break 'Robot man' 'confrontational' and 'inflexible' You would not recognize these traits if they hit you in the face.
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| | Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 08:46 am "Did ANON say, "i believe he is a confrontational fellow and inflexible"" yes, he did. ;-) "......LOOOOOOOL Give us a break" lol "'Robot man'" lol----robot man" ;-) "confrontational' and 'inflexible' You would not recognize these traits if they hit you in the face. " do these traits hit you in the face? i mean is that why you begged me to give you a break? ;-) osam bin laden is confrontational and inflexible because he tough, not easy, testing, demanding, defiant, challenging, unbendable, firm, uncompromising in the fact of his enemy; he does not beg his enemy to give him a break. ;-)
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| | Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 09:12 am "Bro Anon, quick question: I have seen you use this sing ;-) a lot, What do they stand for?. Any specific meanings for them?. Just curious saxib." it is a sign of smile. most of the times i'm smiling when i'm posting things; it is a way to show that i'm not serious. many people think i'm harsh to people when i'm responding to them and others think i'm flirting. you youself said that i'm harsh (pain in the ass youu put it). this sign proves i'm neither. ;-)
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| | Monday, March 12, 2001 - 12:57 am Formerguest There we go again, don't like what the gaal has to say, tell him it's none of his business. Then attack his sources and intellect. Besides the Qur'an and the Hadith, what sources do you ever quote? You never get down to the nitty gritty on facts. BTW I saw an interesting interview on CNN last night where the Egyptian cultural minister labeled the Taliban as reactionary and said the were giving Islam a bad name by conducting un-Islamic activities and driving people away from Islam, not actively pursuing their Da'wa. For the other dude who thinks I'm a schizophrenic, whatever dude. Think what you want, I would be hard pressed to care less.
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| | Monday, March 12, 2001 - 02:00 am Taliban Says It''s Too Late to Save Buddhas KABUL, Afghanistan , 3/11/2001 (AP Wire) :: The Taliban regime has almost finished destroying two towering statues of Buddha and will complete the job soon despite an international outcry, a top Taliban official said Saturday. "We have destroyed 80% of the statues. There is only a small amount left, and we will destroy that soon," said Abdul Hai Muttmain, a spokesman for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who ordered the destruction two weeks ago. He spoke as Egypt''s chief Muslim cleric headed to Afghanistan to plead for the preservation of the 3rd- and 5th-century statues, which are carved into a mountain in Bamian, about 80 miles northwest of Kabul, the capital. Other Muslim figures were expected to make trips this week. "Everyone who is coming now is too late," Muttmain said. Giant Buddha statues blown up 3/11/2001 (BBC) :: Afghanistan''s ruling Taleban have destroyed the two giant Buddha statues which the international community has been trying to save, independent reports say. But the Taleban''s foreign minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Pakistan that demolition was still continuing, though not much of the ancient treasures left was left. Mr Annan said he was also told that the Taleban had destroyed all the country''s moveable statues. The great Buddhas in the central province of Bamiyan were blown up by dynamite, under the supervision of the defence minister, as the fundamentalist Islamic authorities had promised. And while the Taleban say they acted because the statues were "un-Islamic", a delegation from the world''s largest Muslim body, the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) had travelled to Afghanistan to try to change their minds. UN cultural envoy Pierre LaFrance described the destruction of the Buddhas as a great loss for world heritage. The statues were unique. The taller of the pair stood at 53 metres (125 feet) high, the biggest Buddha in the world. The monuments, once a big tourist draw, dated back to between the second and fifth centuries AD, before the coming of Islam, when Afghanistan was a centre of Buddhist learning and pilgrimage. Aid workers say the remains of the statues are now lying at the foot of the huge sandstone cliff where they stood. In recent days, delegations from Japan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have all pleaded with the Taleban to halt their plans but to no avail. Throughout Islam''s history in Afghanistan the statues were preserved and no Muslim doctrine has suggested their destruction Egyptian religious leader Mr Annan called the statues part of the common heritage of mankind, and described as lamentable the Taleban decision to destroy them. And Egypt''s top religious leader, Mufti Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel, who is travelling with the OIC delegation, said: "The proof that these statues have no negative impact on Islam is that throughout Islam''s history in Afghanistan they were preserved and no Muslim doctrine has suggested their destruction." Discussion ruled out But Taleban officials warned that they would not give in to pressure to reverse their decision. "When they visit Afghanistan, we will welcome them. But the decision to demolish the statues will not be a topic for discussion," said information minister Qodrat Allah Jamal. The order to smash the statues was issued a month after the UN imposed new sanctions against the Taleban, aimed mainly to force them to hand over Saudi militant Osama bin Laden, who is accused of blowing up two US embassies. But Mr Muttawakil ruled out speculation the statues were being destroyed in revenge for Afghanistan''s international isolation. "There is no link between this or any political issue," he said. "It is our internal issue and has no political justification."
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