> > We, the undersigned, plead for an immediate end to the Taliban edict to
> > demolish Afghanistan's cultural heritage. We further urge the Taliban
> > spiritual leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to enter into dialogue with the
> > international community - including the Arab and Islamic governments that
> > overwhelmingly have condemned these actions - in order to explore
> proposals
> > to safeguard this irreplaceable cultural heritage from further, senseless
> > destruction. The edict of the 26 th of February 2001 to destroy
> pre-Islamic
> > and Buddhist objects-including the world's largest standing Buddha statues
> > at Bamiyan-runs counter to all the basic principles of respect, tolerance
> > and the wisdom upon which Islam is based, and is a breach of the Taliban
> > pledge made in 1999. We plead with Taliban authorities to stop this
> > irreversible assault on two millennia of Afghanistan's artistic and
> cultural
> > achievements, treasured not only as the spiritual birthright of Buddhists
> > everywhere but also as a universal cultural heritage for people of all
> > faiths and nationalities.
May the stones survive.
