Agence France Presse

Kabul, March 25:

Afghanistan is planning a foreign exhibition of its 2,000-year-old Bactrian gold, once thought to have been destroyed by the Taliban, to fund the rebuilding of a war-ravaged museum, officials said today. The priceless jewellery and ornaments will be sent on a world tour in collaboration with UNESCO, the UN heritage body, Kabul national museum director Omarakhan

Massoudi told AFP. The artefacts have a special place in Afghan hearts’ after surviving the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a devastating civil war and the rule of the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban. The collection lay hidden in a Kabul bank vault for 14 years before it was finally found in August 2003. “The idea is to introduce the ancient history of our land to the world, and to make money and spend it on the reconstruction of the museum” and on projects

in other provinces, Massoudi said. He added that the government had received requests from several countries including Austria, Denmark, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and South Korea to display the treasures.“We have accepted requests from eight countries and cultural organisations,” he said.