Timbuktu tombs "destroyed"
11th July 2012
Residents report two tombs in Timbuktu's Djingareyber mosque have been destroyed by Islamist rebels who have taken over the city
The tombs, said to be those dedicated to Timbuktu scholars Baba Babadje and Mahamane Foulane, both considered saints, are part of a cemetery attached to the 700-year old mosque, which is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The militants have claimed that the mosques are breaking Islamic law, encouraging people to direct their prayers towards the deceased rather than Allah. It has been reported that they destroyed the tombs with picks and shovels, warning off residents by firing guns into the air and blocking off roads.
The action follows the destruction of the sacred door of the Sidi Yahia mosque last week. At least eight of the 16 listed mausoleums in the city have apparently been destroyed; the group, Ansar Dine, have vowed to destroy them all.
The World Heritage Committee has called for a fund to be created to aid Mali in the conservation of its cultural sites, and Mali has appealed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.
“There isn't really that much that UNESCO can do,” said Roni Amelan, a spokesman for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. In May, a mission was sent to plan what action will be taken, but it's “very difficult” at the current time for anything further to be done.
“We are not in a position to go there and start reconstruction work,” he continued. “We have condemned those attacks, we have appealed to the armed forces,” also adding that they had appealed to Mali's neighbours to try and prevent illicit smuggling of valuable artefacts and manuscripts.
“[The sites are] important to their culture... to their national identity... to who they are”.
Travellers from the UK are advised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to avoid all travel to the country, citing a high threat of terrorism and kidnapping.
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