Monday, July 02, 2012

Muslims Trash Timbuktu

Islamist militants are trashing the ancient treasures of Timbuktu, Mali's fabled desert city, destroying shrines to Islamic saints and attacking a mosque.

The militants today broke down the door of Sidi Yahia, a 15th-century mosque, the BBC reported. Sidi Yahia is one of Timbuktu's three great mosques, and the door had previously been sealed for centuries as it led to the sacred tomb of saints.

The Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) militant group has seized control of Timbuktu, at the edge of the Sahara Desert, and is on a campaign to destroy historic mausoleums that it says are outside its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Ansar Dine, said to have links to Al Qaeda, has already destroyed seven shrines by smashing them with pick-axes, Agence France-Presse reported.

AFP said some Timbuktu residents sobbed as the militants broke down the Sidi Yahia mosque's sacred door.


A spokesman for Ansar Dine told the BBC that the group hopes to "destroy every mausoleum in the city — all of them, without exception."

UNESCO, the UN's heritage agency, has placed Timbuktu on its list of heritage sites in danger, and has spoken out against the violence.

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