FEATURE/Al-Qaeda's Role in the Destruction of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage.

Business Editors

FEATURE...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)--April 17, 2002

Al-Qaeda and Taliban hardliners in Afghanistan conspired to "break the cultural neck of the nation" in an attempt to consolidate power in the country, according to an exclusive report in the May/June issue of Archaeology magazine.

In an interview with managing editor Kristin Romey, Paul Bucherer-Dietschi, director of Switzerland's Afghanistan Museum, outlines the Taliban's change in attitude toward Afghan heritage under pressure from Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, which culminated in the calculated destruction of the 1,500-year-old colossal Bamiyan Buddhas by al-Qaeda demolition experts in March of last year.

The destruction of the Buddhas captured world attention, but few knew at the time that it was the work of al-Qaeda. "Afghan Taliban refused to do the job," says Bucherer, "so Mullah Omar sent in foreigners-Arabs, Chechens, Sudanese-to blow them up. These guys were experts. They drilled holes four, five, six feet into the rock and stuffed them with explosives." Accompanying the article are exclusive photographs taken by Bucherer that document the systematic destruction of the Kabul Museum collections. "The Taliban came in the morning, hammered until prayer time, paused, hammered again, paused for tea, then hammered for the rest of the day," he recalls.

At the crossroads of great eastern and western empires, Afghanistan was home to over 3,000 years worth of remarkable cultures. Alexander the Great built magnificent Greek cities in the country, and Afghanistan's powerful Buddhist kingdoms were the first to give the Buddha a human form, sculpting its image in the Gandharan style-an exquisite synthesis of classical Greek and Indian art-and carving towering figures of the Buddha into the cliffs of Bamiyan.

By the end of 2000, al-Qaeda forces had effectively taken over Afghanistan, bankrolling the hardline Taliban elements that supported them. Al-Qaeda, under increasing pressure from the U.S., was keen on strengthening its grip on the country; Afghan nationalism, reflected in the stone monuments and elaborate sculptures going back thousands of years, was getting in the way. On a trip to Kabul in December of that year, Afghan archaeologists pleaded with Bucherer to spirit whatever artifacts remained in the once-prestigious Kabul Museum and various storerooms out of the country. Hamstrung by the reluctance of international organizations such as UNESCO to support the removal of artifacts from Afghanistan, Bucherer could offer no help. "Even if I had the agreement of UNESCO, I doubt whether the Afghans would have managed to bypass al-Qaeda and get the materials out," he says. The Afghanistan Museum, a museum-in-exile established under an agreement between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance in 1998 to safeguard what remained of the country's cultural treasures, won the official support of UNESCO following the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas.

For more than 50 years, Archaeology magazine has led the field, journeying to all corners of the earth to witness the rediscovery of ancient worlds. Published by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), Archaeology brings its 600,000 readers the last word on the long-gone. For more information or to receive press releases via e-mail, contact Eric Powell at [phone] ext. 12 or [e-mail].