bihartimes.com : A Passage to Bihar

Bangkok, June 18 (DPA) Thailand has offered to reconstruct the ancient world-heritage Buddha statues destroyed by Afghanistan's former Taliban regime in 2001, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Sunday.

Thaksin told journalists at Bangkok International Airport that he had discussed the reconstruction project with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on the sideline of a two-day regional conference he attended in Kazakhstan, the state-run Thai News Agency (TNA) said.

Thaksin said he had informed the Afghan leader that Thailand, as a Buddhist country, would like to collect the remains of the Bamiyan Buddha statues to rebuild new ones.

President Karzai welcomed the suggestion but said he would need to bring it up for discussion with his government, Thaksin said.

Afghanistan's previous Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime dynamited centuries-old twin Buddha statues carved into the heart of the Hindu Kush mountains in Bamiyan, claiming the statues offended Islamic beliefs.

The destruction sparked international outrage.

Thaksin is a caretaker prime minister, whose populist Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) Party is gearing up for a general election, expected some time in October.

Thailand's population is more than 90 percent Buddhist.