Worldwide crimes against cultural heritage
Historically, Mali's radical Islamists are certainly not the first to commit such deeds. Even in modern times political or religious fanatics have destroyed irreplaceable cultural treasures. Particularly badly hit were temples and monasteries in Tibet during China's Cultural Revolution. The oldest Samye monastery was among those that were badly damaged.
Mali's iconoclasts
They call themselves Ansar Dine, defenders of Islam, but defense is not their mission. They have been destroying Islamic treasures in the historic city of Timbuktu. At least 7 of the 16 UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage shrines have been badly damaged.
In the name of Allah
The Tuareg rebels and Ansar Dine took control of northern Mali a few months ago, but it is Ansar Dine which is responsible for the destruction of the shrines. Once the World Heritage Committee had put Timbuktu on the list of endangered world heritage, Ansar Dine destroyed even more shrines.
In danger
There are three major mosques in Timbuktu; Djingareyber, Sankoré and Sidi–Yahya. Together with the 16 damaged tombs, these three ancient buildings are Timbuktu's contribution to the UN's World Cultural Heritage list. As local residents looked on in bewilderement, the extremists smashed the entrance to the Sidi–Yahya mosque.
Barbarism
Timbuktu has long been a center for Islamic teaching and scholarship. Rare documents, valuable religious and scientific texts are to be found in its libraries. The Islamists have threatened to destroy those valuable manuscripts and have already seized some of them.
Long history of destruction
Historically, Mali's radical Islamists are certainly not the first to commit such deeds. Even in modern times, political or religious fanatics have destroyed irreplaceable cultural treasures. Particularly badly hit were temples and monasteries in Tibet during China's Cultural Revolution. The oldest Samye monastery was among those that were badly damaged.
A temple restored
Almost all Tibetan monasteries were desecrated, looted and destroyed. Oldest surviving Samye monastery was later partly built and was reconsecrated in 1980s. The monastery is now an official monument of the People's Republic of China.
Built on old foundations
The Babri mosque in Ayodhya in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was built on the site of a Hindu temple, probably built in 1528.
Hindu fanatics
Hindu fanatics tried repeatedly to demolish the mosque and replace it with a temple, initially without success. But in 1992 it was destroyed in a nationwide riots that left at least 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims.
Buddhas destroyed
Just months before the world was shocked by 9/11 attacks, radical Islamists blew up two statues of Buddha in Afghanistan. The Bamiyan statues were among the oldest and largest in the world. Their faces were lost to posterity centuries ago.
On the world heritage list
The explosion opened up a gap in the rocks, revealing religious inscriptions dating back to the fouth century AD. The Bamiyan Valley with its archaeological remains is now on the World Cultural Heritage list. The university of Aachen has recreated the statues with computer modeling, but UNESCO has ruled out any restoration work in the field. Author: Sabine Peschel / al | Editor: Mark Caldwell