Envoys to appeal for Afghan statues

The Taleban are keeping the world guessing over the fate of the statues

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A group of Japanese parliamentarians is traveling to the Afghan city of Kandahar in the latest international attempt to convince the Taleban government not to destroy pre-Islamic statues in the country.

Taleban Foreign Minister Mulla Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil said he would meet with the Japanese Friday.

ALSO Eyewitness: The Buddhas of Bamiyan Afghanistan: Treasure chest of early Asian culture GALLERY: Afghanistan's Buddhist heritage

Japan has been providing the Taleban government with economic aid, but has threatened to cut all assistance if the destruction goes ahead.

The Taleban have so far rejected all pleas for them not to carry out a directive from their leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, to destroy the statues -- including two giant 1,500-year-old Buddhas carved into sandstone cliffs.

Mullah Omar has ordered the statues destroyed, saying they are idols which are an affront to Islam.

As of Thursday the fate of the two Buddha statues, carved into cliffs above the central town of Bamiyan, remained unclear.

Earlier in the week there were signs that the statues had been given a temporary reprieve after Taleban sources were quoted as saying demolition work had been suspended during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha

However, that festival ended Thursday and latest reports say the Taleban plan to resume dynamiting the statues.

'Joint action'

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickeremanayaka is also on his way to the area to join the Japanese group in lobbying the Taleban to change their minds.

The Japanese lawmakers may decide to cut aid to the Taleban

He said he would seek "joint action on the issue," to echo growing international outrage against the Taleban decree.

United Nations special envoy Pierre Lafrance earlier said he would again appeal to the Taleban when Eid al-Adha is over.

All international appeals have so far fallen on deaf ears.

No turning back

The Taleban foreign minister told Reuters Thursday: "We have explained our position to the UNESCO team and will mention this to others… [T]hat is our decree is based on Islamic orders and that we will spare no pre-Islamic or post-Islamic era statues.

"They may involve themselves because of personal interests, but they have no religious basis to say that our work is contrary to Islamic laws," he added.

However even Muttawakil said he did not to know if the Buddhas' destruction had resumed.

"I don't know how much of the Buddhas has been damaged and when the destruction will resume," he said.

Proposals to save the statues have been rejected, including offers by India, Greece, and the metropolitan Museum of New York to purchase them.

A London-based Afghan engineer also offered to build walls around the Bamiyan statues which the Taleban considered an offensive sight.

"We have all sorts of possibilities to maintain them or to keep them out of sight," Muttawakil said, dismissing the ideas. "Our verdict wants their annihilation."

Information and Culture Minister Qudratullah Jamal, whose ministry is overseeing the demolition, was unavailable for comment. He has not yet returned from his hometown after the Eid al-Adha celebrations.

The Bamiyan statues, one of which is considered the world's tallest standing Buddha, date back to a time when Afghanistan was a center for Buddhist pilgrimage and learning.

Reuters contributed to this report.

See related sites about Asia

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.