ISLAMABAD, April 28 (AFP) -- The Afghan Taliban's supreme council and the militia's founder Mullah Mohammad Omar have vowed that ancient Buddha statues in Afghanistan will not be destroyed, a Taliban statement said Monday.

The statement, issued by the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammad Masoom Afghani, said no country should express concern about the fate of the carvings in central Afghanistan.

"The sole purpose of the Taliban is peace, stability and Islamic law in Afghanistan and they are against against terrorism and destruction," the ambassador said.

"The Supreme Council has refused the destruction of the sculptures because there is no worship of these," Afghani said.

The statues are located close to Bamian province, which is the base of the Hezb-i-Wahdat faction representing Afghanistan's Shiite Moslem community.

Afghani stressed that the militia was "in favour of better relations with the countries of the world."

International concern over the safety of the Buddha relics was triggered after a Taliban frontline commander earlier this month said the statues would be destroyed if the militia broke through Shiite lines and entered Bamian.

Sri Lanka, which is a seat of Theravada Buddhism, had expressed its "deepest sorrow" following the commander's threat.

The historical site has one 55-meter (181-feet) high statue and a slighly smaller carving 38 meters (125 feet) high, as well as a maze of tunnels and caves with other Buddhist artifacts.

The third to fourth century construction is hailed by scholars as Aghanistan's most impressive archeological treasure.