By Jonathon Jones
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| Image of destruction, courtesy of National Post |
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| Ansar Dine group has vowed to start on Timbuktu's mosques if they contain monuments to Sufi saints |
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Will Anyone Save Timbuktu From Islamist Tomb Raiders?
Posted on 03:47 by john mical
THE GUARDIAN
By Jonathon Jones
MALI---Militant fundamentalists are destroying the Malian town's legacy with pickaxes. Someone must step in to stop this atrocity. In Timbuktu in Mali, great art is being attacked right now, as if it were an enemy. The aim is total destruction. The same brand of militant Islamism that deprived the world of the Buddhas of Bamiyan is now being turned on medieval tombs that are among the wonders of Africa. This is a great Muslim art centre. But the tombs revere Sufi saints, and the Islamist rebels who have taken over Timbuktu regard such saint-cults as idolatrous. The Ansar Dine group says it will "destroy every mausoleum in the city – all of them, without exception". How will the world respond? [link]
By Jonathon Jones
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