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UNESCO slams 7 ‘new’ wonders list

“This campaign responds to other criteria and objectives than that of UNESCO in the field of heritage,” said Sue Williams, the spokeswoman for UNESCO, the UN cultural body that designates world heritage sites. “We have a much broader vision,” she added.

A private Swiss foundation launched the contest in January, allowing voters to choose from 21 sites short-listed out of 77. According to its backers, the campaign aimed to update the original list of seven world wonders, drawn up in around 200 BC, of which only the pyramids of Giza remain today. Christian Manhart, UNESCO’s press officer, criticised the ballot, saying it sent out a “negative message to countries whose sites have not been retained.”

“All of these wonders obviously deserve a place on the list, but what disturbs us is that the list is limited to just seven,” he said, pointing out that “seven were adequate in Antiquity because the Antique world was much smaller than today,” only comprising the area surrounding the Mediterranean.

The privately-sponsored campaign was the brainchild of a Swiss filmmaker and museum curator Bernard Weber, following the destruction of Afghanistan’s giant Buddha statues at Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001, and part of the money made on Saturday’s ceremony was to go towards rebuilding the massive sculptures.

But Manhart said “UNESCO is not in favour of rebuilding the Buddhas,” pointing out that valuable remains of the old statues remain in the rocky niches that make up the site.

“If you build new statues in these niches you destroy those remains,” he said.

In light of the strong Islamist presence in Afghanistan, Manhart also insisted it would be difficult to rebuild another religion’s ‘idols’ in the country.

“Mr Weber does not have a mandate from the Afghan government, and without a mandate you can’t do anything,” he argued.

Faruq Hadidi, head of Jordan’s tourism ministry, meanwhile said the flow of tourists to Petra would ‘double’ from its current level of 400,000 visitors a year. afp

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