Islamists vow to smash every mausoleum in Timbuktu (BBC) {World Heritage Site}

[eppur_se_muova]

Islamist rebels occupying the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali have vowed to smash every mausoleum, in the face of international protests.

A spokesman for the Ansar Dine group, Sanda Ould Boumama, said it would "destroy every mausoleum in the city - all of them, without exception".

The centuries-old shrines to Islamic saints, revered by Sufi Muslims, are regarded as idolatrous by the group.
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The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, described the destruction of the mausoleums as a "war crime", the AFP news agency reported.

"My message to those involved in these criminal acts is clear: stop the destruction of the religious buildings now. This is a war crime which my office has authority to fully investigate," she said, according to AFP.

Mali's Culture and Tourism Minister, Diallo Fadima Toure, urged the UN to take action to stop "crimes" against her country's architectural treasures.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18665522

[malaise]

2. The real problem is that the West spent so much time villifying the greatness of

Timbuktu that few people on the planet have a clue about the greatness of the center of knowledge.