Mali military enters fabled town of Timbuktu
BY KRISTA LARSON & LORI HINNANT Associated Press
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
1/29/13 at 6:19 AM
Backed by French helicopters and paratroopers, Malian soldiers entered the fabled city of Timbuktu on Monday after al-Qaida-linked militants fled into the desert, setting fire to a library that held thousands of manuscripts dating to the Middle Ages.
French Col. Thierry Burkhard, chief military spokesman in Paris, said that there had been no combat with the Islamists but that the French and Malian forces did not yet control the town.
Still, there was celebration among the thousands of Timbuktu residents who fled the city rather than live under strict Islamic rule and the dire poverty that worsened after the tourist industry was destroyed.
Timbuktu, a city of mud-walled buildings and 50,000 people, was for centuries a seat of Islamic learning and a major trading center along the North African caravan routes that carried slaves, gold and salt. In Europe, legend had it that it was a city of gold. Today, its name is synonymous to many with the ends of the earth.
It has been home to some 20,000 irreplaceable manuscripts, some dating to the 12th century. It was not immediately known how many were destroyed in the blaze that was set in recent days in an act of vengeance by the Islamists before they withdrew.
Michael Covitt, chairman of the Malian Manuscript Foundation, called the arson a "desecration to humanity."
"These manuscripts are irreplaceable. They have the wisdom of the ages and it's the most important find since the Dead Sea Scrolls," he said.
The militants seized Timbuktu last April and began imposing a strict Islamic version of Shariah, or religious law, across northern Mali, carrying out amputations and public executions. Women could be whipped for going out in public without wearing veils, while men could be lashed for having cigarettes.
The French and Malian forces arrived in Timbuktu two weeks after the French began their military intervention in Mali.
"The helicopters have been decisive," Burkhard, the French spokesman said, describing how they aided the ground forces who came from the south as French paratroopers landed north of the city.
But the French have said Mali's military must finish the job of securing Timbuktu. And the Malians have generally fared poorly in combat, often retreating in panic in the face of well-armed, battle-hardened Islamists.
During their rule in Timbuktu, the militants systematically destroyed cultural sites, including the ancient tombs of Sufi saints, which they denounced as contrary to Islam because they encouraged Muslims to venerate saints instead of God.
The mayor said the Islamists burned his office as well as the Ahmed Baba institute, a library rich in historical documents.
Original Print Headline: Islamists chased from Timbuktu
Associated Images:
Chadian soldiers assisted by Malian police patrol the streets of Gao, Mali, on Monday, a day in which French and Malian soldiers also entered the city of Timbuktu. JEROME DELAY / Associated Press
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