Russian patriarch compares Taliban’s barbarism to that perpetrated in Kosovo

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II has labelled Taliban’s plans to destroy two gigantic Buddha statues in the Afghanistan’s province of Bamiyan as "barbarism". Speaking at a Sunday news conference in Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said these statues were of a historic value. At the same time, "talking about the demolition of Buddhist monuments in Afghanistan, we should not forget about the systematic destruction of Christian monuments in Kosovo," Alexy is quoted by Interfax as saying. Numerous churches and monasteries, that are sacred for the Serb people and date back to the 14th and 15th centuries, "are being turned into rubble today," the patriarch said.