Top Sunni Muslim leaders head to Afghanistan to save Buddhas

CAIRO, (AFP) - Clerics from Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, left Saturday for Afghanistan to try to dissuade the Taliban militia from completely destroying two of the world's oldest Buddha statues.

Egypt's top religious leader, Mufti Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel, told reporters on his departure that "from a religious viewpoint it is clear -- these statues are part of the humanity's heritage and do not affect Islam at all."

"The proof that these statues have no negative impact on Islam is that throughout Islam's history in Afghanistan they were preserved and no Muslim doctrine has suggested their destruction," he said.

Wassel was travelling along with a delegation from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which is currently headed by Qatar.

The delegation includes Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmud, OIC official Ibrahim Bakr and two well-known Sunni clerics, Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi and Mohamed al-Rawi.

The Qatari contingent was sent on the orders of Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani. The group will meet the Taliban officials along with UNESCO representative Haytham al-Khayyat.

But the trip comes the same day Taliban spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen announced that "work" on the statues was between 80 and 90 percent complete.

And on Qatar's own satellite news channel, Al-Jazira, Taliban Information Minister Qodrat Allah Jamal warned the statues were not up for discussion with his guests.

"When they visit Afghanistan, we will welcome them. But the decision to demolish the statues will not be a topic for discussion," he said. The OIC's mediation attempt comes amid a growing international outcry against the Taliban's razing of the statues in an effort to rid Afghanistan of its pre-Islamic heritage.

UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura called Wednesday on Egypt to intervene to help save the statues, the tallest Buddhas in the world, located in the Bamiyan region of central Afghanistan.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to meet with Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel on Sunday, and Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider, whose country is the Taliban's chief backer, will travel to Afghanistan on Saturday.