``The Buddhas in Bamiyan were not touched today, but preparations are being made,'' said Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan.
Already damaged by tank fire and rocket launchers, the giant statues of Buddha in Bamiyan province, carved in the 3rd and 5th centuries, will require heavy explosives to fully destroy.
The soaring world heritage statues of Buddha measure 53 meters (175 feet) and 37 meters (120 feet) tall. The taller Buddha is believed to be the world's tallest standing Buddha.
``So far today, they have not been destroyed,'' the Taliban's deputy interior minister, Mullah Mohammed Khaqzar, confirmed in Kabul.
The Taliban, who rule about 95 percent of Afghanistan, espouse a harsh brand of Islam that bars women from working, girls from attending school, forces women to wear the burqa, which covers them from head to toe, and requires them to travel with a male relative. It bans most forms of light entertainment and demands that men wear beards and pray at a mosque.
They are fighting an opposition led by ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani and made up several small groups, some of whom espouse the same version of Islam.
Governments around the world protested the Taliban's destruction of Afghanistan's priceless ancient Buddhist statues, with other Muslim states saying it makes Islam look bad and suggesting that the regime turn to solving social problems instead.
India suggested that the Taliban hand the treasures over for it to preserve.
``If the Taliban do not wish to retain their inheritance, India would be happy to arrange for the transfer of all these artifacts to India, where they would be kept safely and preserved for all mankind,'' Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said in Parliament.
In Europe, Swedish Culture Minister Marita Ulvskog said Friday that she was dismayed.
Sweden holds the rotating EU presidency and Ulvskog is chairing the EU Council of Ministers for Cultural and Audiovisual Affairs.
Taliban troops armed with everything from tanks to rocket launchers began destroying all the statues in Afghanistan on Thursday because the works of art were deemed idolatrous by strict Islamic standards.
Anger over the order has been particularly strong in Buddhist areas of Asia because the works targeted for destruction include two huge Buddhas carved into a cliff in Bamiyan province, about 125 kilometers (90 miles) west of the capital, Kabul.
One of the statues is 175 feet (53 meters) tall and dates to the 5th century, the other is 120 feet (36 meters) tall and dates to the 3rd century.
``The Japanese government is deeply concerned,'' said Kazuhiko Koshikawa, spokesman for Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in Japan, where most people consider themselves followers of both Buddhism and the native Shinto religion. ``Those statues are assets to all human beings.''
``If they are ruined, it would be an immeasurable loss,'' he said. ``The Japanese government hopes that Taliban will review such a decision and take appropriate measures.''
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi condemned the decision.
``Unfortunately, the Taliban's destruction of the statues has cast doubt on the comprehensive views offered by Islamic ideology in the world,'' he said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. ``Clearly, the world's Muslims pin the blame on the rigid-minded Taliban.''
In Afghanistan's civil war, Iran supports the northern alliance of ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani against the ruling Taliban.
In Egypt, the chief Muslim cleric, Grand Mufti Nasr Farid Wasel, told the London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat that keeping the statues is not forbidden by Islam.
In comments published Friday, he said such statues, like Egypt's Pharaonic monuments, bolster the economies of Islamic countries through tourism.
In Doha, Qatar, Sheik Yusuf Kardawi, a renowned Islamic scholar, told Al Hayat that the pre-Islamic statues are ``a historic heritage.''
The Taliban should rethink its decision because it has dangerous implications, he said. The order embarrasses Muslim countries that have their own ancient statues and provokes an international outcry, Kardawi said.
Instead, the Taliban should focus on solving Afghanistan's problems and on providing food, health care, education and other services, he said.