Taliban officials said yesterday that Afghanistan's ancient Bamiyan Buddhas were nearly destroyed and ruled out any hope for their preservation after talks with a special United Nations envoy.
The Afghan Foreign Minister, Mr Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel, said after talks with the UNESCO envoy, Mr Pierre Lafrance, that he could see no reason to stop the destruction.
"I do not see any chance to change our decision and stop the demolition of these statues," he was quoted as saying after the talks in the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Mawlawi Qudratullah Jamal, said the destruction of "un-Islamic" ancient statues was continuing throughout the country despite international appeals for their preservation.
He said large portions of the two massive Buddha figures in central Bamiyan province had already been reduced to rubble.
The Islamic militia last week began smashing statues around the country to prevent idolatry, but Mr Lafrance said on Saturday there was a "faint glimpse of hope" they could still be saved.
Journalists have been barred from visiting the Kabul Museum and Bamiyan province where the Taliban have recently engaged in heavy battles with opposition forces.
The Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, said he was "deeply concerned" about the Taliban's attempts to erase Afghanistan's pre-Islamic history.
"I am deeply concerned about the possible destruction of the Bamiyan statues of the Buddha at a time when there is closer understanding and better harmony among different religions of the world," he was quoted as saying.
The Group of Eight (G8) countries yesterday expressed "dismay and shock" at the destruction and urged Afghan leaders not to implement "this deeply tragic decision".
The Taliban fundamentalist militia is recognised only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and is not represented at the UN or the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Mr Jamal said that the UN would have more influence in Kandahar if it did not still recognise the ousted government.
"We tell the United Nations to go and ask [ousted president Burhanuddin] Rabbani for the statues' preservation, because they recognise him," he said.