KEY POINTS:
A United Nations spokesman has backed the New Zealand Defence Force's (NZDF) denial that New Zealand soldiers damaged what was left of the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan.
The famous structures were blown up by the Taleban seven years ago, but two smaller statues survived.
An Afghan Government official said New Zealand troops blew up a historic wall and damaged a Buddha during an ammunition disposal exercise.
But the NZDF said the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) had safely detonated an unexploded rocket near the statues and had not damaged them.
Thursday's blast near the smaller of two towering Buddha statues had prompted an angry reaction from Najibullah Harar, chief of information and culture for Bamiyan, who said the explosion had caused cracks in what was left of the structure.
But Brendan J. Cassar, chief of Unesco's cultural programme in Afghanistan, which includes conservation of the World Heritage Site at Bamiyan, said a monitoring mechanism inside the niche where the statues once stood revealed no change.
He said he would personally visit the site tomorrow.
"The evidence is that precautions were taken and that there was no damage done to the small Buddhas or nearby caves at all," he told Radio New Zealand.
Mr Cassar said he understood the detonation took place 60 or 70 metres away from the statues, the area was cordoned off, sandbags were used, and the local police were informed of the exercise.
He said the accusation that the troops had not acted appropriately or responsibly was simply not true.
"Clearly there was a misunderstanding and miscommunication."
The NZDF said the explosion was carried out after the unexploded rocket was found about 50m to the right of the small Buddha.
The 85mm high explosive anti-tank rocket was part of an unexploded ordnance cache reportedly found at the site on April 30.
The NZDF said the rocket was buried at the foot of a bank which was a further 20m down the slope and was deemed too dangerous to either move away or leave.
Because it was close to the historic site the detonation was delayed so key people could be informed of the need to dispose of the rocket, the NZDF said. The Governor of the province, Habiba Sorabi, UN organisations and agencies and local police authorities were informed.
"In conducting the demolition, 15 full sandbags were placed on to the rocket to absorb blast and fragmentation. Post-blast inspection revealed a crater approximately 400mm in diameter and 150mm deep," the force said. "It was considered highly unlikely that the ordnance could have inflicted any damage to the surrounding area.
"Further site inspections by Commander of the PRT Colonel Darryl Tracy and the Head of the UN Mission in Bamiyan concluded there had been no damage to the Buddha."
The two statues, chiselled about 400m apart into a cliff face, were created about 1500 years ago when Bamiyan was a major centre for Buddhism.
The Taleban dynamited the Buddhas in March 2001, deeming them idolatrous and anti-Muslim. It was one of the regime's most widely condemned acts.
Since the fall of the Taleban regime in November 2001, international experts have made painstaking efforts to recover and piece together fragments of the Buddhas and stabilise the niches that remain.
Unesco has placed the entire Bamiyan Valley region on its World Heritage in Danger list. Planes are not allowed to fly over the area.
- NZPA
