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About Three-Thousand Sri Lankan Muslims took part in a country-wide campaign yesterday, denouncing Taliban's destruction of Buddha statues in Afghanistan. Several Muslims who had gathered for Haj prayers, carried placards at a mosque in Mabole, 12 km north of the capital Colombo, condemning Taliban's decision to destroy all pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan including the world's largest standing Buddha statue in Bamiyan. Buddhists in the towns of Colombo and Kandy held huge demonstrations, calling on other Islamic states to prevent the destruction. The Kandy demonstration took place near the Temple of the Tooth Relic, the historic Buddhist shrine, another World Heritage Site, bombed by Tamil rebels three years ago. Meanwhile, Minister of Fisheries Mahinda Rajapakse who heads the Sri Lanka-Palestine Solidarity Movement has appealed to PLO Leader Yasser Arafat and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to use their influence on the Taliban. He said Sri Lanka is prepared and honored to preserve those monumental Buddha statues here if the Taliban do not want them. Meanwhile Reuters reported on Tuesday that the Taliban have ruled out any compromise to save the two giant Buddha statues. But Taliban envoy to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef said that the destruction could be stopped if there was a message from religious scholars of the Arabic world. “So far we have not received any message or proposal which is based on reasons of Sharia (Islamic) law. If there is such a message it will be considered,” he said. Reports from Afghanistan said that shelling of the Bamiyan Buddha statues had halted for the duration of a major Muslim holiday, which is due to end at the weekend.
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