TALEBAN LEADER PROUD OF VANDALISM IN AFGHANISTAN








ISLAMABAD, MARCH 6, 2001 /RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT VLADIMIR SHRETER/ -- Mullah Mohammad Omar, so-called spiritual leader of the Taleban, is proudly boasting of his arbitrary decision to demolish all non-Islamic historical monuments. Moreover, he is determined to bring that "project" to the bitter end.


	All the non-Islamic effigies in this country will be destroyed, he said in a Kandahar address. According to Omar's  opinion, the statues of Buddha account for only one percent of all historical monuments of Afghanistan. "So, I don't understand why world nations have made a fuss about the destruction of these false statues", the Radio Shariah /official Kabul regime's broadcasting service/ quoted the mullah as saying. Among the monuments are two unique giant statues of Standing Buddha in the province of Bamian, which have no analogues in the world.


	With no regard to the protests of the world nations, the Taleban soldiers keep demolishing the statues in the province. We cannot evaluate the damage incurred on the Buddha images created approximately two thousand years ago.


	Mullah Omar's decree on the annihilation of all Buddha statues is to be completed already this week, the Taleban claim.


	Most of the Islamic nations, including Iran, Egypt, and Taleban-friendly Pakistan, have condemned the Mullah Omar's decision, saying that it fully runs counter to the Islamic values which advocate tolerance and peace.