PARIS (Kyodo) UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura has revealed that he asked the United States not to damage cultural assets in Afghanistan and Iraq before military operations were launched in both countries.
Matsuura said in a recent interview that he made the request in letters to the State Department before the launch of the operations in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003.
The letters included lists of cultural assets in both nations, most of which were due to be registered as World Heritage sites, he said.
Matsuura said he made the move because the U.S. refrained from attacking the ancient cities of Kyoto and Nara during World War II.
The State Department accepted the request, replying in a letter that U.S. armed forces would respect cultural heritage, historic buildings and other assets listed in the letters, Matsuura said.
He said the request was observed in Afghanistan, but some cultural assets in Iraq, including the National Museum, which was not listed in his letter, have been damaged.