Salafist Muslims Burn Library With Ancient Manuscripts in Timbuktu

The latest barbarian act by the salafist muslim rebels in Mali is a significant loss for archeological science, as they burned down a research institute and library containing thousands of centuries old manuscripts. "It was one of the greatest libraries of Islamic manuscripts in the world," said Marie Rodet, an African history lecturer at London's School of Oriental and African Studies. "It's pure retaliation. They (the islamists) knew they were losing the battle and they hit where it really hurts," she told Reuters. "These people are not interested in any intellectual debate. They are anti-intellectual."

The destruction of the library is no surprise, since it is only the last and most significant destruction of historical properties at the World Heritage site Timbuktu. The muslim militants - who follow the Salafist brand of Islam - started their holy islamic rule by destroying dozens of ancient shrines in Timbuktu, which are sacred to the local Sufi Muslims, condemning them as idolatrous and un-Islamic. This also meant the destruction, by using bulldozers, of some of the largest and U.N. listed structures, along with a substantial part of the history of Islam in Africa - at least half of 16 listed mausoleums in the city didn't survive the Islamist rule.

The militants from the Malian Ansar Dine militant group that occupied Timbuktu (the name means Defenders of the Faith in Arabic), allied with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), espouse an uncompromising version of Islam that rejects what it sees as idolatry and aims to destroy all traces of it.

A spokesman for Ansar Dine, asked to comment last year on the smashing of Sufi mausoleums in Timbuktu, said their actions were ordained by faith. "We are subject to religion and not to international opinion," the spokesman said.

Timbuktu was liberated by French forces last weekend, which are making fast progress in the military campaign against the Islamist rebels in Mali. The assault forces at Timbuktu, which ironically is considered a seat of Islamic learning, avoided any fighting or bombing inside the city to protect the cultural treasures, mosques and religious shrine, according to a spokesperson of the French military.

But the French forces came to late to save the Ahmed Baba Institute, a modern building containing the manuscripts, as the Islamists already fled the city before the arrival of troops, and burned down the library. Written in ornate calligraphy, these manuscripts form a compendium of learning on everything from law, sciences, astrology and medicine to history and politics, which academics say prove Africa had a written history at least as old as the European Renaissance.

UNESCO spokesman Roni Amelan said the Paris-based U.N. cultural agency was "horrified" by the news of the fire, but was awaiting a full assessment of the damage.