Französischer Präsident in Mali: Timbuktu feiert Hollande als Befreier

SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Es lebe Frankreich, es lebe Hollande" - drei Wochen nach dem Beginn des Militäreinsatzes in Mali hat der französische Präsident das Land besucht. In der von Islamisten befreiten Sahara-Stadt Timbuktu wurde er von Tausenden Menschen frenetisch empfangen.

Paris/Bamako - Frankreichs Präsident François Hollande ist am Samstag in Mali angekommen: Tausende jubelnde Menschen begrüßten ihn auf dem Hauptplatz der historischen Wüstenstadt Timbuktu.

"Es lebe Frankreich, es lebe Hollande", riefen sie. Sie wollen Frankreich "Danke" sagen für den schnellen Militäreinsatz gegen die Islamisten. Die Einwohner der Stadt tanzten zu den Rhythmen von Trommeln, die unter den Islamisten verboten waren. "Wir freuen uns, ihn zu treffen, denn er ist unser Befreier, er hat uns von diesen bewaffneten Banditen befreit", sagte ein Händler. "Ohne die Franzosen wäre es eine Katastrophe gewesen." "Wir, die Frauen von Timbuktu, wir danken François Hollande unendlich", rief eine 53-jährige Frau, die sich in eine französische Flagge gehüllt hatte. » | fln/dpa/AFP | Samstag, 02. Februar 2013

Timbuktu Hails France's President François Hollande Its Saviour »

Dispatch: Inside Timbuktu, the City Freed from Its Al-Qaeda Tormentors
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The image of a severed hand lying beside a bloodied sword was passed from one mobile phone to the next.

The 25-year-old man had been held down while the hand was cut off before a crowd of appalled onlookers, recalled Mousa Ag-Mohammed, 29, who witnessed this punishment. "Some people said that he stole something, but it was not true," he said. "They wanted to do this just to frighten people, for the people to be scared of them."

Whatever the reason, the footage showed how the Islamist overlords of the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu had united high technology with medieval cruelty during their occupation.

Indeed terror was Mr Ag-Mohammed's dominant memory of the 10-month occupation of Timbuktu that ended with a lightning French assault on Monday. » | David Blair, Timbuktu | Friday, February 01, 2013

Professor Richard Dawkins Causes Twitter Row with Islamic Barbarian Jibe

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Not content with upsetting the Jewish religion, Professor Richard Dawkins, the celebrated atheist, has now annoyed some Muslims.

Speaking about the damage caused to the library in Timbuktu, in Mali, he described those who burnt it down as Islamic Barbarians.

His comments have been interpreted as being derogatory to Islam and insulting to followers of the religion by some on the social networking site Twitter.

The best selling author of The God Delusion and Oxford Professor, Tweeted [sic] that “Like Alexandria, like Bamiyan, Timbuktu's priceless manuscript heritage destroyed by Islamic barbarians”. » | Richard Alleyne | Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Jubel in Mali: Timbuktu zurückerobert
29.01.2013 - Die Offensive französischer und malischer Truppen im Norden Malis hat offenbar Erfolg: Mit Timbuktu haben die Truppen eine weitere wichtige Stadt von den Rebellen zurückerobert.

Mali Islamists Destroy Tombs in Timbuktu

CNN: Al Qaeda-linked rebels in northern Mali destroyed historic and religious landmarks in Timbuktu on Thursday, claiming the relics are idolatrous, residents told CNN.

Three four-wheel-drive trucks carrying at least 30 armed fighters arrived Thursday morning at three mausolea -- all U.N. World Heritage sites -- in the southern Timbuktu neighborhood of Kabara, two residents told CNN by phone.

"They started destroying the first mausoleum's wooden door with their axes," said Ibrahim Ag Mohamed, a guide. "Then they went inside and burned the cloth covering the grave before destroying the building with picks and axes."

The mausolea, one of which held the remains of a religious leader and the founder of the neighborhood, were destroyed within an hour, Ag Mohamed said. » | Amir Ahmed, CNN | Friday, October 19, 2012

Francois [sic] Hollande Condemns 'Stupidity' of Islamic Rebels in Mali
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday denounced the "unfathomable stupidity" of Islamist radicals who destroyed Muslim shrines at Timbuktu in northern Mali.

"Everywhere in the world... when heritage is destroyed we will be there to battle against the groups motivated by the unfathomable stupidity which leaves all civilisations vulnerable," Hollande said, citing the Timbuktu vandalism.

West African defence and foreign ministers held talks this week on the possible deployment of regional troops to Mali amid reports that Islamists destroyed the tomb of a Muslim saint in a region under their control.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is trying to broker an end to the political crisis in Mali - which has been effectively sliced in two after a putsch.

"We have affirmed our willingness to support and encourage Mali in its efforts towards the legitimate regaining of its territorial integrity," Ivory Coast's Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said after the meeting.

He described the task involved as "huge but not impossible." » | Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Mali: Islamisten terrorisieren Bevölkerung
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Unverschleierte Frauen werden ausgepeitscht: Islamisten im Norden Malis terrorisieren zunehmend die Bevölkerung. Frankreichs Präsident Hollande kündigte an, dass er zu einer Militärintervention bereit sei. Ob dies den seit Monaten schwelenden Bürgerkrieg lösen kann, ist ungewiss.

Bamako - Die seit Monaten anhaltenden Aufstände in Mali erreichen eine neue Dimension. Nach Augenzeugenberichten terrorisieren Islamisten zunehmend die Bevölkerung des westafrikanischen Landes. In dem Ort Goudam nahe Timbuktu hätten bewaffnete Anhänger einer islamistischen Gruppe Frauen angegriffen, die am Brunnen Wasser holten. Die Männer hätten nicht voll verschleierten Frauen mit Peitschenhieben gedroht, zitiert die Nachrichtenagentur dpa einen Bewohner Goudams.

Der Nachrichtenagentur AP zufolge gingen die Islamisten von Tür zu Tür, nahmen rund 90 Menschen fest und ließen sie auspeitschen. Die Maßnahme war offenbar als Abschreckung gedacht, nachdem zuvor in der Stadt gewaltsamen Proteste gegen die Islamisten ausgebrochen waren. Dabei hätten erboste Bewohner Teile des Hauptquartiers der Islamisten zerstört, berichtete ein Bewohner. » | lei/AP/dpa/Reuters | Samstag, 14. Juli 2012

Related »

Wahhabi Vandalism Reaches Timbuktu
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: Now the extremist rage has reached sub-Saharan Africa.

At the beginning of July, Ansar Al-Dine (Volunteers of Faith), a Wahhabi Islamist group previously allied with Tuareg (a Berber group) rebels in Timbuktu, Mali, began systematically demolishing centuries-old Sufi shrines and mosques.

Timbuktu is known as the "City of 333 Muslim Saints," and has been the depository of hundreds of thousands of manuscripts and documents in libraries and private collections.

In 1988, the United Nations added the three main mosques in the city, and 16 cemeteries and mausoleums, to its World Heritage registry.

Wahhabi ideology, however – the official interpretation of Islam in Saudi Arabia – is destructive of Islamic heritage. Wahhabi doctrine holds that the preservation of sacred funeral monuments and prayers at them are a dilution of Islamic monotheism and a prohibited form of idol worship.

In Saudi Arabia, Islamic heritage, including houses and mosques associated with the prophet Muhammad, have been destroyed or damaged.

Elsewhere, Wahhabi devastation was mainly seen in raids on Shia holy sites in Iraq during eighteenth and nineteenth-century Wahhabi forays into that country, as well as in the recent Iraq war. Fundamentalist assaults on Sufi sanctuaries then spread in Pakistan. Wahhabi violence against Sufi installations also appeared in the Muslim Balkans. With the political changes in Egypt and Libya, Sufi shrines have been targeted by so-called "Salafis" (a cover term for Wahhabis).

Now the extremist rage has reached sub-Saharan Africa. » | Irfan Al-Alawi | Wednesday, July 11, 2012