Mali tomb destroyed by Islamists
The tomb of a Muslim saint in Mali has been destroyed by Islamists, two months after similar incidents in the northern region brought widespread condemnation.
Map showing Gao in Mali Photo: GOOGLE
3:44PM BST 17 Sep 2012
A local politician told the AFP news agency that the Islamists destroyed the mausoleum of Cheik El-Kebir more than 200 miles from Gao.
Sources said the Islamist militant Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) was responsible for the destruction.
"Today in Gao, the Islamists boasted about the destruction of the mausoleum of Cheikh El-Kebir. They said they had smashed the mausoleum on Saturday, a town leader who would not give his name told AFP. "This is a crime," he added.
Oumar Ould Gaddy, a Gao resident who is believed to be close to MUJAO, confirmed the reports.
"Cheik El-Kebir's mausoleum north of Gao was destroyed. That's true," he said. "The Islamists have confirmed this. There is another mausoleum which they will also destroy soon."
Kebir's tomb is venerated by the Kunta tribe whose members live in Mali, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger.
The latest attack came two months after Islamists destroyed two tombs at the ancient Djingareyber m&d mosque in Timbuktu soon after taking over northern Mali amid chaos in the wake of a coup attempt in the capital Bamako.
The fighters from the Islamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) began their destruction of the city's cultural treasures on July 1, shortly after UNESCO placed them on a list of endangered World Heritage sites.
Declaring the ancient Muslim shrines "haram", or forbidden in Islam, Ansar Dine set about destroying seven of Timbuktu's 16 mausolea of ancient Muslim saints.
They also destroyed the sacred door of the 15th-century Sidi Yahya mosque.
Along with Sidi Yahya, Djingareyber and the Sankore mosque bear witness to Timbuktu's golden age as an intellectual and spiritual capital which was crucial in the spread of Islam throughout Africa.
Source: AFP
The tomb of a Muslim saint in Mali has been destroyed by Islamists, two months after similar incidents in the northern region brought widespread condemnation.
Map showing Gao in Mali Photo: GOOGLE
3:44PM BST 17 Sep 2012
A local politician told the AFP news agency that the Islamists destroyed the mausoleum of Cheik El-Kebir more than 200 miles from Gao.
Sources said the Islamist militant Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) was responsible for the destruction.
"Today in Gao, the Islamists boasted about the destruction of the mausoleum of Cheikh El-Kebir. They said they had smashed the mausoleum on Saturday, a town leader who would not give his name told AFP. "This is a crime," he added.
Oumar Ould Gaddy, a Gao resident who is believed to be close to MUJAO, confirmed the reports.
"Cheik El-Kebir's mausoleum north of Gao was destroyed. That's true," he said. "The Islamists have confirmed this. There is another mausoleum which they will also destroy soon."
Kebir's tomb is venerated by the Kunta tribe whose members live in Mali, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger.
The latest attack came two months after Islamists destroyed two tombs at the ancient Djingareyber m&d mosque in Timbuktu soon after taking over northern Mali amid chaos in the wake of a coup attempt in the capital Bamako.
The fighters from the Islamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) began their destruction of the city's cultural treasures on July 1, shortly after UNESCO placed them on a list of endangered World Heritage sites.
Declaring the ancient Muslim shrines "haram", or forbidden in Islam, Ansar Dine set about destroying seven of Timbuktu's 16 mausolea of ancient Muslim saints.
They also destroyed the sacred door of the 15th-century Sidi Yahya mosque.
Along with Sidi Yahya, Djingareyber and the Sankore mosque bear witness to Timbuktu's golden age as an intellectual and spiritual capital which was crucial in the spread of Islam throughout Africa.
Source: AFP
