Buddha statue villain shot dead

The Scotsman ^ | 1/27/07 | AMIR SHAH

[Valin]

KABUL A FORMER Taleban official who oversaw the destruction of the 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 was assassinated in Afghanistan yesterday. Maulavi Mohammed Islam Mohammadi, who was the Taleban's governor of Bamiyan province when the giant fifth-century statues were blown up in March 2001, was killed on his way to Friday prayers in the capital, Kabul.

A gunman dressed as a construction worker shot and killed him and wounded one of his two bodyguards with an AK47 assault rifle before fleeing. Mohammadi was elected in 2005 to represent the northern province of Samangan in Afghanistan's parliament.

After that, Mohammadi said he should not be held responsible for the destruction of the statues, which the Taleban considered to be idolatrous and anti-Muslim. They were located in the provincial capital of Bamiyan where Mohammadi was based. "It was not my decision. It was foreigners like Chechens and Arabs with the Taleban who made the decision. They were crazy people," Mohammadi said. "Even though I was governor, I had no power."

An international outcry followed the destruction of the Buddhas, which were chiselled into a cliff and famed for their size and location along the ancient Silk Road linking Europe and Central Asia. Archaeologists in Bamiyan have been painstakingly collecting the stone remains of the two statues and are considering rebuilding them.

Mohammadi fled to the north of the country and was never detained after US-led forces defeated the Taleban in late 2001.

[To Hell With Poverty]

Ah, sweet revenge!

[cloud8]

Great news! Thanks for posting.

[Hodar]

Hmmm, I wonder if it was one of those violent Lutherans, or those mean Methodists? Perhaps a Baptist fundamentalist? A crazed Catholic, a mad Mormon? An initiation rite of a Episcopalian gang?

Or is it one of those feral Islamic animals running around in the streets?

[Ken522]

'Couldn't happen to a nicer guy ...

[taxed2death]

Karma

[sageb1]

"A gunman dressed as a construction worker"

How do gunmen normally dress?

[Emmett McCarthy]

The more of these whack job muslims that die, the better as far as I'm concerned, but I wonder how Buddhists would think about killing a person because of the destruction of a statue? Aren't they big time pacifists?

[freeangel]

GOOD!

[fishergirl]

This brings a smile to my face, another piece of bad rubbish gone from this earth. Oh, yeah - the Arabs and the Chechans, it's always someone else's fault, excuses, excuses.

[fishergirl]

LOL!! I'm Methodist and I'm getting meaner.

[firewalk]

...

[elhombrelibre]

Another happy ending. Who says there is never any good news reported?

[DJ Taylor]

Bad karma will eventually catch up with all villains.

[KevinDavis]

My name is Maulavi Mohammed Islam Mohammad....

[Teacher317]

[mylife]

Bye Bye Asshat

[mylife]

The mohahmedeans are good at destruction

[HereInTheHeartland]

Not quite instant karma, but it still got him.

[B.O. Plenty]

Mohammadi was elected in 2005 to represent the northern province of Samangan in Afghanistan's parliament.

This is the disturbing part of this article. Mohammadi biting the big one was the good part.

The fact that this guy was elected to the Afgan parliment shows me that Afganistan will never amount to a rat's ass, and for the country not to be a 'training ground for terrorists', Americans will have to be there forever.

Maybe we should 'redeploy' and let the muzzies fight it out among themselves..

..unless, of course, we decide to wage a proper war, and rid the world of islam once and for all.