posted March 07, 2001 03:51 PM            

Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga wrote United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan making the offer to join in any collective drive to save the statues, her secretary Kusumsiri Balapatabendi said.

He said the president noted that neighbouring India had offered to provide shelter to the statues the Taliban wanted to destroy and the Sri Lankan government was fully supportive of India's position.

UN special envoy to Afghanistan Pierre Lafrance believes there is little hope of persuading the Taliban militia to preserve the country's ancient statues, a report said Wednesday.

The special representative to UNESCO, the UN's culture and education branch, told the BBC that the fundamentalist Islamic militia had shown little interest in reversing their order to destroy priceless Buddhist figures.

But he cited "very reliable" sources as saying the famous Buddha figures in central Bamiyan province had not been damaged to the extent the militia has publicly claimed.

The Taliban last week issued an edict ordering its troops to smash statues throughout the country to prevent idolatry, provoking an international outcry.

Sri Lanka, which is the seat of Theravada Buddhism, had also asked Pakistan to use its influence over the Taliban administration and save the Bamiyan Buddha statues.

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said he spoke with his Pakistan counterpart, Abdus Sattar, to urge the Taliban to spare the 2nd century AD statues as well as other priceless statues in Afghanistan.

"The Pakistan Foreign Minister was also very concerned about this and I am fully confident that he will do his utmost to save the statues which are a part of the heritage of mankind," Kadirgamar said.

He said he had a meeting with Colombo-based diplomats here last Friday to drum up international support for a campaign to save the two statues, among the world's tallest.

India's High Commissioner (ambassador) to Sri Lanka, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, had told the minister that India had surveyed the historic sites in Afghanistan and had the drawings with them for possible use by museums.

The fundamentalist Taliban had ignored a storm of protest from the international community and was reportedly going ahead with the destruction of the Buddha statues, which stand 53 meters (175 feet) and 34.5 meters (114 feet) tall.

Appeals to spare the Afghan relics have come from the United States, France, Germany, Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Pakistan, Germany, Russia, India, Malaysia, the European Union, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and many museums and Buddhist organisations.

Sri Lanka's minority Muslim groups have joined Buddhists in protesting against the destruction in Afghanistan