UNESCO Secretary General calls for sights to be saved after flooding

The UNESCO Secretary General, Koichiro Matsuura, called on to the international community on Saturday to mobilise its forces to save world heritage sites from damage by extensive floods in Central Europe. Mr Matsuura said that UNESCO and its World Heritage Centre needed to provide all the technical and financial assistance available to help restore the flood damaged cultural heritage. He also expressed deep regret over the damaged centre of the Czech capital Prague, its old Jewish quarter, and the south Bohemian town of Cesky Krumlov. Both Prague and Cesky Krumlov were entered in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites in 1992. Mr Matsuura furthermore wrote a letter to President Vaclav Havel to support his call for international aid to the Czech Republic.