![]() We will not publish comments that are profane, libelous, racist, or engage in personal attacks.Preference is given to commenters who use real names.Please be advised:Ĭomments are moderated and will not appear on site until they have been reviewed.Ĭomments are not open on some news articles Bell Media reserves the right to choose commenting availability. ![]() Bell Media reviews every comment submitted, and reserves the right to approve comments and edit for brevity and clarity. ![]() "Some of these funds have to be found so we can begin as soon as possible on this work," he said. The Islamists ran Timbuktu and the rest of northeastern Mali for months before being chased out by French-led troops in January.ĭuring the Islamists rule, Eloundou Assomo said, the international experts estimate that over 4,200 manuscripts from the Ahmed Baba research centre were lost, including between 2,000 and 3,000 that were burned and others that were stolen.Īnother 300,000 manuscripts were smuggled out - mainly to the capital Bamako - for safekeeping and are now in urgent need of conservation, he said.Įloundou Assomo said the plan estimated the cost of rehabilitating and preserving the ancient manuscripts - the top priority for the city's religious leaders - at $11 million. Part of that included reducing to rubble the mausoleums honouring the city's saints. Timbuktu, an ancient seat of Islamic learning, has been home for centuries to a library of ancient, camel-skin bound manuscripts covering science, astrology, medicine, history, theology, grammar and geography as well as a 700-year-old mud mosque.Īl-Qaida linked Islamists swept into the city in the spring of 2012 with their own, severe interpretation of Islam, intent on quashing what they saw as the veneration of idols instead of the pure worship of Allah. The El Farouk independence monument at the entrance to the city was also razed, Eloundou Assomo said. "We discovered that 14 of Timbuktu's mausoleums, including those that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, were totally destroyed, along with two others at the Djingareyber Mosque," a famous learning centre built in 1327 which also needs to be repaired, he said. ![]() Lazare Eloundou Assomo of UNESCO's World Heritage Center, who led the mission, said a visit to the damaged and destroyed sites on Thursday revealed that the destruction by Islamist rebels who occupied Timbuktu and the rest of the north until early this year "is even more alarming than we thought." A team of experts led by UNESCO said Friday it has found far more serious damage to Mali's cultural heritage in the fabled city of Timbuktu than initially estimated, with 16 mausoleums totally destroyed and over 4,000 ancient manuscripts lost. ![]()
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