The Hindu : International : Ancient Angkor, out of danger

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 06, 2004

International

International

Ancient Angkor, out of danger

SHANGHAI, JULY 5. Cambodia's temple-studded ancient city of Angkor has been taken off the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) list of threatened World Heritage sites. This step is in recognition of successful efforts against vandals, land mines and illicit development.

Delegates to the World Heritage conference in the Chinese city of Suzhou also lifted danger status from Oman's massive earthen Bahla Fort and Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains National Park. A 21-member committee debating the status changes on Sunday ``welcomed substantial progress in the three sites, considered sufficient to warrant their removal'' from the list, a statement from UNESCO said.

Thirty-two sites remain listed as threatened, just a fraction of the 788 properties inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage list, including some in India. UNESCO's website earlier had listed 36 sites on the danger list and there was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy. Angkor was placed on the list in 1992, threatened as it was by mines, new construction and trophy hunters who lopped off the heads of statues.

Efforts taken since then by Cambodia and international partners have been effective, UNESCO said. ``The committee noted that the preservation of the site from destruction was reasonably secure and that the restoration activities coordinated by UNESCO since 1993 could be considered a `success story,''' it said.

The capital of Hindu kings who ruled over large swaths of South-East Asia, Angkor flourished from the 9th to the 13th centuries. Its stone temples include Cambodia's cultural icon, Angkor Wat, which appears on the country's flag.

Historians have traditionally believed that the city was sacked by Siamese invaders in 1431. But recent research points also to an earlier demise attributed to ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. — AP

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