Reprieve may come for remaining Afghan relics

During his first official visit to Pakistan, the head of the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) hopes to discuss ways of saving any Afghan pre-Islamic artefacts which may have found their way onto the black market. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have already been raised in an effort to preserve what is left of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage. UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura arrived in Pakistan late on Wednesday for a two-day visit, which takes place only weeks after Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban movement demolished two giant Buddhist statues, despite international outcry. His visit follows media reports this week that chunks of the statues had appeared in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan. However, UNESCO spokeswoman Helene-Marie Gosselin told reporters on Wednesday that the cultural agency had not received confirmation of this from informed sources. Gosselin said UNESCO was working with international organisations to locate stolen Afghan artefacts which had shown up on the black market, and also to preserve whatever others remained in the country. “The plan is to eventually help purchase what comes up on the market with a view to return it to Afghanistan when circumstances allow,” Gosselin said. UNESCO’s policy was to try and keep cultural property in its country of origin; however the Afghan situation constituted “exceptional circumstances”, she said. UNESCO has also launched a global campaign targeting art dealers and collectors in a bid to help retrieve stolen property. “We are asking art dealers for self-restraint to help curb illicit trafficking, in the hope that they will help us identify pieces that have gone missing.” In the case of Afghanistan, the first objective, Gosselin said, was to conduct a comprehensive review of what Afghan artefacts existed before the recent Taliban onslaught on what they deemed to be “idols”. Unfortunately, no one had such an inventory, she said. Gosselin described the destruction of the Buddhist statues as “a crime against culture”. UNESCO had done everything in its power to save the statues, she stressed. “Even if the Buddhas had been on the world heritage list, I don’t think it would have changed much.” At the next meeting of the World Heritage Committee, Matsuura plans to see how the body could strengthen the current legal framework of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage, to prevent such acts of destruction from occurring in the future. While in Pakistan, the director-general will meet Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf, visit some of the country’s world heritage sites, and address a symposium on the Indus Valley civilisation.