Afghanistan's reaction to Turkey and Iran laying claim to Rumi, a renowned Sufi mystic and poet drew the ire of a member of the Mawlawi order the followers of the mystic founded. Hakkı Özsoy, head of a nongovernmental organization linked to the order, told Ihlas News Agency that Rumi, commonly known as Mevlana in Turkey, has openly said he was Turkish and of the Hanafi sect of Islam in his book and it was not "appropriate to claim he was from Afghanistan."

Tehran and Ankara asked to list the work of Mevlana Jalal ud-Din Muhammad Rumi as their joint heritage on the U.N.'s "Memory of the World" register in May.

The register, falling under the U.N.'s cultural organization UNESCO, was formed in 1997 to protect the world's documentary heritage - archives, correspondence and writing - especially in troubled or conflict-ridden areas.

But the Afghan government has denounced the bid, which mainly concerns the 25,600 verses of "Masnavi-i-Ma'navi," one of the most influential works in Persian literature.

The poet and philosopher "was born in Balkh in Afghanistan and made us proud," the Ministry of Information and Culture insisted.

UNESCO "never asked us" about the proposal, Harron Haklimi, the ministry's spokesman, said, acknowledging that Kabul had been beaten to the punch but hoping they can yet convince the organization that Afghanistan has the better claim to the poet.

Most researchers agree he was born in Balkh, Afghanistan in 1207 - though this too has been the subject of debate: a few argue he was born just across the border, in what is modern day Tajikistan, in a region also known as Balkh.

Hakkı Özsoy said what Afghanistan did was an attempt "to spread its culture." "It happened before with Greeks laying claim to Hacivat and Karagöz (a Turkish shadow play) and even with Şemsi Tebrizi, a companion of Rumi. They even built a tomb for him in Iran, claiming he was buried there (while he is actually buried in Konya). I think this is part of cultural imperialism and for Afghanistan's part, an attempt to boost (tourism revenues)," he stated. Özsoy said it did not matter whether Rumi was born in Afghanistan or not. "He wrote his works here in Konya and this was where he was known to the world," Özsoy said, referring to the central Turkish city Rumi settled. "He is a native of Konya and has nothing to do with Afghanistan. It is wrong to portray him as an Afghan," Özsoy said.

The young Rumi and his family fled to Turkey, where he spent most of his life - he died in the city of Konya in 1273. It was there that his son founded the Order of the Whirling Dervishes to perpetuate his father's teachings.

But for Afghans, he remains a child of their country and it is still possible to visit the house in which they believe he was born.

The powerful governor of Balkh province, former warlord General Ata Mohammad Noor called on Afghanistan's representative to the United Nations to protest.

"By limiting Maulana to only two countries, we do not do justice to a global personality who is truly cherished and admired across the world," he said.

"He is considered an important part of the culture and identity of Afghanistan," writer and poet Sadiq Usyan, professor at the Balkh university in nearby provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif, told AFP.

Separating the two is considered an "insult" and even a "threat" to Afghanistan, he said.

A UNESCO representative in Kabul argued there had been some "confusion."

"Any country, delegation or even individual can submit a request to be considered under this program," said spokesman Ricardo Grassi.

He noted the backlash, adding: "But this request has still to be considered."

To accede to it without mentioning Afghanistan would be unacceptable, said the director of Balkh's provincial cultural department, Salih Mohammad Khaleeq.

A large portrait of Rumi already greets visitors arriving in Balkh. However, his childhood home has been ravaged by time, badly weathered with its ocher-colored mud walls collapsed, the interior open to the wind.