UNESCO envoy returns disappointed

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 5. The UNESCO special envoy, Mr. Pierre LaFrance, has returned from Afghanistan a disappointed man, having failed to persuade the Taliban leadership to abandon its destruction of pre-Islamic artefacts, including Buddha statues.

``No, I was not able to persuade them,'' Mr. Lafrance told presspersons here on his arrival from Afghanistan. He was deputed by the UNESCO Director-General to persuade the Taliban to spare the historic statues.

Mr. Lafrance did not get an audience with the Taliban supremo, Mullah Muhammed Omar, who is believed to have indicated that he could meet him only after Bakrid tomorrow.

Mr. Lafrance, who has served in the past as Ambassador of France in Pakistan, had to be content meeting the Afghanistan Foreign Minister, Mr. Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil. Mr. Mutawakil, who received Mr. Lafrance, indicated no change in their decision.

``I have left certain ideas with the Taliban Foreign Minister, who promised to convey them to their supreme leader,'' he said, without elaborating on the nature of his discussions. Mr. Mutawakil told him that issue of the statues was an internal matter of Afghanistan and hoped that ``the world would eventually understand'' the Taliban position.

The UNESCO envoy said that he had tried his best to impress upon the Taliban leaders the sanctity of the statues and how they expected them to protect and preserve them. He pointed out that in Islamic countries such heritage was respected and Islamic Ulema (scholars) had ideas how to accommodate and preserve cultural heritage. ``I advised them (the Taliban) to postpone (the destruction) until they consulted all prominent Islamic scholars.''

``On this point they were not convinced. All they said was that they would convey this to the Amir-ul-Momineen.'' Mr. Lafrance said Mr. Mutawakil, whom he met in Kandahar on Sunday, was aware of the ``political and scientific problems that the decision will create'' but said it was not a political but a religious decision.

In another development, the Japanese Ambassador in Pakistan, Mr. Saddaka Numata, met the Taliban Ambassador here and appraised him of the concern of his country and people over the demolition.

Mr. Numata said the demolition would not help efforts to raise desperately-needed humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, and the attitude of the Taliban regime could lead to suspension of economic aid.

Six days after the edict by Mullah Omar, there is little information about the fate of the statues. There are no eyewitness accounts of the demolition work. One report from the area said there had not been any significant damage yet. The Taliban envoy here, Mullah Abdul Salam, also said that the demolition of the Buddha statutes was yet to begin.

However, the Taliban Information Minister, Moulavi Qudratullah Jamal, has been quoted as saying in Kabul that the destruction was under way.

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Section  : International
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