Sri Lanka ready to buy debris of Buddha statues

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, MARCH 18. Sri Lanka is to make a formal request to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan for the rubble of the Bamiyan Buddhas in order to reconstruct them, a senior aide to the President has been quoted as saying by a newspaper here.

Mr. Lakshman Jayakody, an adviser to the President and former Minister for Culture and Buddhist Affairs, told The Sunday Times that Sri Lanka was willing to buy whatever was left of the statues, and even the debris, to erect replicas with the material here. ``We have the expertise and the experience in erecting such monuments,'' Mr. Jayakody said.

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Section  : International
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