Jalalabad, Afghanistan — The world can howl in outrage, but the Taliban will not reverse its decision to destroy all of Afghanistan's statues, a Taliban leader insisted Wednesday.
The Islamic militia wants to see all the nation's statues destroyed "in the next few days," Abdul Hai Muttmain, a spokesman for the Taliban's reclusive supreme leader, said.
"There is no chance at all that we will reverse our decision to destroy all Buddhist statues, regardless of the criticism from the world," he said by telephone from southern Kandahar. "This is a matter of our religion. The order will not be reversed."
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar last week ordered all pre-Islamic statues in the country destroyed, including two towering Buddhas hewn from a cliff in central Bamiyan in the third and fifth centuries. One stands 120 feet high and the other, at 170 feet, is believed to be the world's tallest standing Buddha.
Taliban militiamen have reportedly started destroying statues with anti-aircraft fire and bombs, but it is not clear how much damage has been done since outsiders have been kept away from the sites.
Demolition has been interrupted for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, or festival of sacrifices, but the holiday ends today and the destruction is expected to resume.
Special UNESCO envoy Pierre Lafrance was to meet with Taliban leaders in Kandahar later this week to plead for the Buddhas' preservation. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to issue a plea during a visit to Pakistan this weekend.
But Muttmain said Afghanistan's pre-Islamic history is of no interest to the Taliban rulers, nor are they moved by objections from across the globe. He dismissed the United Nations' criticism, saying the world body has been against the Taliban rulers since they gained control of most of the country in 1996.
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