TALIBANS PLANT BOMBS UNDER UNIQUE STATUTES OF BUDDHA IN BAMIAN PROVINCE








ISLAMABAD, MARCH 3, 2001. /RIA Novosti correspondent  Vladimir Shreter/ -- Talibans have planted explosives at the foundation of two unique statues of Buddha in the province of Bamian. According to the Afghan Islamic Press agency, the  explosives have been delivered from neighboring provinces. Local people are being evacuated. 


	It is yet unknown whether the statues have been already  blown up. Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaif said on Saturday that preparations for the destruction of the statues  were in full swing. According to reports from Kabul, the statues were already gun- and mortar-shelled Friday. 


	Last Monday, Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of Talibans, decreed the elimination of all pre-Islamic monuments, including the two huge statues of Buddha which are about two thousand years old, in the territory of Afghanistan. The world public and even  the few friends of the Talibans, including neighboring Pakistan, urge Fundamentalists not to commit such an act of vandalism and  preserve these artifacts of general humanitarian value for future generations.