March 12, 2001

UNESCO confirms destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas
March 12, 2001
Web posted at: 11:10 a.m. EST (1610 GMT)
PARIS, France -- The international community is reacting with sadness and anger over the destruction of priceless pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan.

Taliban reject any Islamic compromise on statues
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL, March 12 (Reuters) - A Taliban leader on Monday ruled out any compromise with scholars from the world's largest Islamic organisation and said workers

Treasures survived centuries of war
By Richard Eden - The Daily Telegraph 3/12/01
THE two colossal Buddhas had survived the campaigns of Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and, more recently, 20 years of civil war.

'Refugees in stone' who cannot flee
By Siddharth Varadarajan - The Times of India News Service 3/12/01
KABUL: The Taliban's enigmatic order to destroy all statues from Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past - including the two Buddhas at Bamiyan - has left people here saddened and appalled.

Islamic clerics hold talks over Buddhist statues in Afghanistan
KABUL, March 12 (AFP) - A high-level delegation of Islamic clerics continued talks with Afghan scholars Monday in a bid to save historic relics as the ruling Taliban regime said

'Taliban is misinterpreting Islam'
Times of India - 3/12/01
NEW DELHI: The intellectuals condemned the demolition of the Buddha statues by Taliban regime and termed it as ``moral crime'' leading to ``misinterpretation of Islam.''

Annan flies over squalid Afghan refugee camp
By Tahir Ikram
SHAMSHATU, Pakistan, March 12 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan promised aid to Afghan refugees in one border camp on Monday before flying

Iran's Khatami opens talks with Putin
By Ron Popeski
MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami opened talks on trade and technical cooperation on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin

In the name of God!
ASHOK CHANDWANI The Gazette (Canada)
Sometimes I forget completely what companionship is.
Unconscious and insane, I spill sad energy everywhere. My story gets told in various ways: a romance, a dirty joke, a war, a vacancy. Jelaluddin Rumi, 13th-century Afghani poet

Where is outrage for Taliban's bigoted conduct?
Dallas Morning News
I am a little disappointed that the latest events in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan have not drawn the kind of outrage from your readers that they should.