CALL it historical cleansing. The target this time might be the world's tallest Buddha statue—the 55-metre colossus at Bamiyan, central Afghanistan. Threats by senior Taliban frontline commander Mulla Abdul Waheed a few weeks ago to demolish the structure have outraged the international community. A recent retraction by the Taliban supreme council in Kabul, which ascribes the threat to "anti-Taliban propaganda", has done little to assuage the fears of Buddhists, historians, archaeologists and diplomats. Who, they ask, is in charge? "The Taliban are headquartered at Kandahar, not Kabul, so you have a variety of perceptions," says Prof Moegiadi, UNESCO director at Delhi. "There are inconsistencies from one place to another. It all depends on the local leaders." UNESCO plans to send Moegiadi and people from its Paris headquarters to try and "talk" to the Kabul leadership.