The UN Secretary-General said yesterday that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban told him they had destroyed virtually all the country's historic statues, in what he termed a disservice to themselves and Islam.
"I did discuss the statues with the Foreign Minister and I walked away from the meeting not very encouraged," Mr Kofi Annan said after meeting the Taliban Foreign Minister, Mr Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil.
A Taliban spokesman in Kandahar said demolition of the two giant Buddhas near Bamiyan, which were 53 metres (175 feet) and 38 metres high, continued yesterday after being about 80 per cent complete by Saturday.
The destruction of Afghanistan's heritage - most of it dating from the Buddhist period nearly 2,000 years ago - was bound to make it more difficult to raise aid for the impoverished country," Mr Annan said, urging donors to remember that the aid is not aimed at the rulers.
Mr Annan, who arrived in Pakistan on Saturday at the start of a regional tour, expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where drought and war have driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in the past year.
The Taliban had already faced strong criticism before the statues dispute over their treatment of women, alleged support of terrorism and their continued focus on war at a time of near famine in Afghanistan.
"If they do carry through this lamentable decision I think they will be doing themselves a great deal of disservice," Mr Annan said.
"I did tell the minister that true faith elicits respect and you have to respect what is sacred to others," Mr Annan said after a meeting that produced no public sign of any area of agreement.
Shortly before Mr Annan spoke, Mr Muttawakil told a separate news conference at the Taliban embassy - Pakistan is one of the few countries to recognise the movement - that he had told Mr Annan he would not halt the destruction of what the Taliban see as heathen idols.
Mr Muttawakil said the order by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was "totally an internal religious matter".
He dismissed opposition from other Islamic countries and top Islamic scholars, saying they were only giving advice "for the sake of reconciliation".
The UN has refused to recognise the Taliban as the legal government of Afghanistan, although it holds more than 90 per cent of the country.