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| Experts debate
future of Buddhas dynamited by Taliban BAMIYAN, AFGHANISTAN, Oct 10: For over 1,600 years, from the twilight of imperial Rome through the ravages of Genghis Khan, the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan towered above the fabled silk road through Afghanistan that linked the ancient East and West. ....more Man or ape, ancient skull LONDON, Oct 10: Is it the skull of an ancient ancestor of modern human, or does it belong to an ape that lived seven million years ago? That depends on who you ask. The skull unearthed in the desert of....more Congress
marches WASHINGTON, Oct 10: US President George W Bush’s request for authority to use force against Iraq drew solid support today in both the house and senate. The senate voted 75-25 to ....more |
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Explosion in police MOSCOW, Oct 10: A powerful explosion ripped through a police precinct building in Chechnya’s capital Grozny today, injuring at least 12 people and leaving at least eight others buried under rubble, an emergency official said. ......more Taped Al-Qaeda statements could signal new attack WASHINGTON, Oct 10: The US Government is warning state and local authorities to be on alert against a new Al-Qaeda terrorist attack after two taped statements by Al-Qaeda leaders were played by global media.. . .......more Arabs should drop cooperation with US, Arab conferees say BEIRUT, Oct 10: More than 200 Arab politicians and intellectuals called on people in the Arab world today to "mobilise" and urge their leaders not to cooperate with the US administration. ..........more |
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Experts debate future of Buddhas dynamited by Taliban BAMIYAN, AFGHANISTAN, Oct 10: For over 1,600 years, from the twilight of imperial Rome through the ravages of Genghis Khan, the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan towered above the fabled silk road through Afghanistan that linked the ancient East and West. A thousand years back, when they were already 600 years old, the faces of the statues were hacked off on the orders of a Muslim zealot. But the figures themselves stood until March last year, when Mullah Omar, leader of Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime, finished them off with dynamite. The two colossal statues laboriously carved from a pink sandstone cliff overlooking the town of Bamiyan were blasted from their massive niches and reduced to piles of dust and rubble in an act that shocked the world and woke it up to the extent of the Taliban’s religious intolerance. It looked to be a final devastating blow to central Afghanistan’s Hazara tribe, who suffered some of the worst Taliban atrocities and saw Bamiyan, their capital, reduced to pitiful ruin during its rule. But with the Taliban now overthrown, experts from all over the world are working with the new Government, under the auspices of the UN cultural organisation, UNESCO, to see what can be done to save what is left of the Buddhas. Technology exists to completely rebuild the 55 metre and 38 metre statues, but a debate is raging as to how far such work should go. At present, only the outlines of the statues remain along with parts of the arms attached to the cliff wall. And even those fragments are in danger. Among the most controversial proposals has been from an Afghan-American artist, Haider Zad, who suggested building new statues in reinforced concrete, an idea that has horrified UNESCO experts and would likely provoke considerable anger among Afghanistan’s legions of Islamic conservatives. Accompanying a team of Japanese and European experts to inspect the remnants last week, UNESCO Kabul’s senior cultural specialist Jim Williams said the Government and international donors had agreed the priority should be to consolidate and protect the remains. He said UNESCO’s mandate did not allow for the building of new statues. Michael Petzet, president of the international council for monuments and sites, a private NGO that is a consultant to UNESCO, said he and other experts believed there were enough large fragments remaining for a successful reconstruction of the Buddhas through a process known as anastylosis. "We were astonished, because we had heard from the news and from colleagues that there was nothing but dust left. And here you have many big fragments," he said, pointing to a big boulder that was part of the smaller Buddha’s shoulder. "It’s like any archaeological site, when columns fall down, you have part of it and you sort of build it up again." He said the Afghan Government was keen to rebuild the statues. "Of course, we are only interested in a very scientific professional work and not in the idea of a new Buddha in concrete or gold. These are horrible ideas that would destroy what is left," he said. The Governor of Bamiyan, Mohammad Rahim Ali Yar, said the local Government was eager to see the statues rebuilt, both because they represented part of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage and because they would bring much needed tourism revenue to the desperately poor province. Butul Ahad Abacy, the engineer in charge of historic monuments at the Ministry of Information and Culture, said it could be dangerous to build new statues. "We are living in an Islamic country and there are some very radical Islamists living here. If we were to build new statues banned by Islam they might react very strongly to that. "According to the rules on the preservation of monuments, if something is destroyed, we preserve what is left. I don’t think that would provoke the same outrage as building a new idol. It would be just preserving our historical heritage." Protection of the remains is an urgent, difficult and dangerous task, as the Buddhas were carved from a soft and crumbling stone that once formed part of a prehistoric seabed. Deep cracks in the niches have been widened by the explosions and what remains of the statues is in danger of crashing down if left exposed during the coming winter. Even vibration caused by US special forces helicopters overflying Bamiyan has caused some rock falls from the niches. "The situation is quite delicate, very fragile really at this moment," said Claudio Margottini, an expert on rock mechanics from the university of modena in Italy, advising the UNESCO team. "It’s a really dangerous situation, so we hope it’s possible to do something. Generally winter here is very severe and in a structure like this, ice can enlarge the fractures and may cause collapse." The experts are considering structures to protect the niches and emergency work to shore up the fractures. They are also looking at ways to protect what remains of Buddhist wall paintings dating from the 5th to 7th centuries that decorated many of the hundreds of cave-like monks’ cells carved into the cliffs around the statues. Some were defaced by the Taliban while others have been damaged by fires lit by local people who have traditionally wintered in the caves, or refugees who took shelter there when their houses have been destroyed in fighting. Some paintings have also been stolen for sale to overseas collectors, including Japan, said Kosaku Maeda of the University of Wako in Tokyo. Maeda, on his first trip to Bamiyan since 1978 estimated that 80 percent of the paintings that existed then had now disappeared. "We were shocked to see this," he said. "Almost all the paintings are covered with dust and smoky film. If they are cleaned we may find some very important paintings," he said. Maeda said the experts, who will submit a funding proposal to the Japanese Government, want to build a workshop at Bamiyan to store and restore the paintings, which would be attached to a site museum. (AGENCIES) |
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Man or ape, ancient skull is still important find LONDON, Oct 10: Is it the skull of an ancient ancestor of modern human, or does it belong to an ape that lived seven million years ago? That depends on who you ask. The skull unearthed in the desert of chad was hailed as arguably the most important discovery in living memory when it was first revealed and made world headlines in July. Michel Brunet, of the university of poitiers, and the team that reported the find in the science journal nature to much acclaim dubbed it "toumai", the name given to children in chad born close to the dry season. It’s unusual mixture of primitive and human-like features prompted scientists to believe it was the earliest member of the human family found so far and a historic discovery that would shed light on human evolution. But other French scientists quickly criticised the claim. Milford Wolpoff and colleagues at the University of Michigan joined the doubters yesterday, saying it was not the remains of modern human’s most ancient relative but the fossil of an ape. "It is not a human or a direct ancestor of humans," Wolpoff said in an interview. "I think it is more probably a common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees — in other words, on that tree before they split into separate branches." The first reliable records of Hominids, or members of the human family, distinct from chimpanzees and apes, appeared five million years ago. In a letter published in nature, Wolpoff and his colleagues suggest brunet and his supporters were enamoured with the human-like features, such as the small canine teeth, but didn’t ask clearly about defining characteristics. "Look at the back of the head, you can clearly see it is not a direct human ancestor," he explained. Judging by the back of the skull, Toumai did not habitually hold up its head and walk erect — a crucial difference between apes and humans — according to Wolpoff. "Your skeleton is a record of what you do in life and this skeleton tells us that they did not habitually walk on two legs," he said. Brunet dismissed the criticism as flippant in a response published in nature and said Wolpoff and his team had made several erroneous assertions. Ironically, Wolpoff believes the skull would be more important if it is an ape fossil because so little is know of their genealogy. (AGENCIES) |
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Congress marches toward support of Iraq war resolution WASHINGTON, Oct 10: US President George W Bush’s request for authority to use force against Iraq drew solid support today in both the house and senate. The senate voted 75-25 to end delaying tactics and open the way for final passage and the house overwhelming defeated efforts to weaken it. In the senate, 28 democrats joined 47 Republicans in voting to draw debate to a close. The key vote came after the senate’s top democrat, majority leader Tom Daschle, told colleagues, "I believe it is important for America to speak with one voice." The bipartisan agreement gives the President most of the powers he asked for, allowing him to act without going through the United Nations. But in a concession to democratic concerns, it encourages him to exhaust all diplomatic means first and requires he report to Congress every 60 days if he does take action. The senate vote was procedural, but both sides viewed it as a key test vote. It choked off delaying tactics by a few democratic opponents and made it all but certain that the senate would pass the measure. Only two Republicans voted against bringing debate to a close: Lincoln Chaffee and Arlen Specter. Daschle’s support was crucial to the administration’s hope for a substantial vote. He was the last holdout among major democratic congressional leaders. |
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Explosion in police precinct in Chechnya leaves several buried MOSCOW, Oct 10: A powerful explosion ripped through a police precinct building in Chechnya’s capital Grozny today, injuring at least 12 people and leaving at least eight others buried under rubble, an emergency official said. The blast destroyed part of the building in the Zavodskoi region of Grozny, said Lt Col Alexander Lemeshev, Duty Officer at the Emergency Situations Department for Russia’s Southern district. At least eight people were buried beneath the rubble, and 12 were hospitalised with injuries, lemeshev said. The blast occurred while a meeting was taking place in the building, he said. (AP) |
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Taped Al-Qaeda statements could signal new attack WASHINGTON, Oct 10: The US Government is warning state and local authorities to be on alert against a new Al-Qaeda terrorist attack after two taped statements by Al-Qaeda leaders were played by global media. The warning was based on threats in the statements by Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri of attacks on US interests and statements by detainees in the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that such messages would only be released if an attack is imminent, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in a statement issued late Wednesday. The audio messages were the first sign of Bin Laden and his top deputy in months. Although it was unclear when the messages were taped, analysts said Zawahiri’s speech contained references to events as recent as July. Bin Laden’s message was played Sunday on the Arabic satellite network Al-Jazeera. Zawahiri’s was released yesterday to Associated Press television. "The coordinated release of these statements, coupled with our knowledge of ongoing plotting by Al-Qaeda members and threat information described by detainees, strengthens previous assessments that Al-Qaeda continues to plan major attacks against US interests," the FBI said. "The statements suggest that an attack may have been approved, while the specific timing is left to operatives in the field," the Bureau said, adding that detainees "are independently interpreting these taped remarks as a sign of attack." Since there was no specific information about target, method or timing of a potential attack, the FBI said the national alert level would remain at "yellow", or "elevated". But it warned local authorities to be vigilant against attacks on US economic infrastructure and installations at home and abroad. The statement said other recent appeals by Al-Qaeda, including some supposedly from Bin Laden, have urged Islamic youth to attack US forces in Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain in an attempt "to manipulate the broader Islamic extremist community to attack the United States at home and abroad." (DPA) |
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Arabs should drop cooperation with US, Arab conferees say BEIRUT, Oct 10: More than 200 Arab politicians and intellectuals called on people in the Arab world today to "mobilise" and urge their leaders not to cooperate with the US administration. "The dangers of the current situation require the conferees to find ways to mobilise Arab peoples against their leaders’ cooperation with the United States," said Dia Din Dawood, Chairman of the Arab National Congress which was meeting in Beirut. "We should find ways to mobilise the people in order to make their leaders feel threatened. While Arab streets are silent, the regimes are planning (with the US) for a new future for the region," he said. The Congress was holding a two-day emergency session on the Palestinian uprising and US threats of a military strike against Iraq. The Congress was hosting a dinner later today attended by visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. The Congress was founded in Tunisia in 1990 and has since held 12 sessions, including six in Lebanon. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Selim Hoss called during the conference for an extraordinary Arab summit, a reactivation of the boycott against the US and Israel, and strengthening democracy and human rights in the Arab world. (DPA) |
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