Den sagnomspundne ørkenby nær Nigerflodens bred i Mali lider endnu under chokket fra de islamiske ekstremister, som holdt den besat i ni lange måneder – FN-bureauet IRN lancerer multimedie-serie om byens skæbne.
TIMBUKTU, 21 June 2013 (IRIN): Almost five months after French troops liberated Timbuktu from Islamist fighters, the ancient desert town, like much of northern Mali, is struggling to recover from the effects of the nine-month occupation as well as longer-term security and development problems.
Few of the things a city needs in order to function – electricity, fuel, banks, marketplaces, and basic government services such as the town hall or judiciary (domhuse) – are fully up and running.
There are other, less visible but equally pernicious (skadelige) problems, including a breakdown in the very fabric (mønster) of a citizenry long-famed, thanks to Timbuktu’s location at the crossroads of the Sahara, for its cosmopolitan mix of cultures and skin-hues (hudfarver i alle afskygninger).
Mali also contends (må slås) with a chronic regional food security crisis that leaves millions of people teetering on the edge of catastrophe every time the rains fail.
These issues and more are explored in IRIN’s latest multimedia In-Depth, “Trouble in Timbuktu – Northern Mali after the Islamist occupation”.
Se http://www.irinnews.org/webspecial/mali/index.html – og mød byens indbyggere på en filmrundtur.
Nothing “apart from hope”
“Timbuktu is free again, but it is a town where there is no economy at all, a town where everything is gone, everything is lost, apart from hope,” said Hallé Ousmane, the town’s mayor.
“Eighty percent of the civil servants are absent (væk). Even if they were here, their offices are empty. There is no equipment, no computers, nothing – not even a chair. It is impossible to work,” he said.
Electricity in Timbuktu is only on from 7pm (om aftenen) until midnight. There are no petrol stations; instead fuel is sold in mismatched bottles from roadside stalls (boder).
In early 2012, Tuareg separatists launched an offensive in the north, taking over large swathes of the country.
After an army coup in March, the separatists were sidelined by a range of Islamist groups (se neden for) who moved in to towns like Timbuktu. Many people, including most civil servants, fled.
“We lived in fear”
The occupiers imposed their own interpretation of Islamic law, anathema to (som bød stærkt imod) Timbuktu’s Sufi inhabitants.
Women were to wear the veil (slør), men to grow beards, and the two not to associate with each other unless married. Violators were whipped in public or locked up in crowded cells.
“We lived in fear. Armed men roamed the streets. Nobody knew what would happen from one day to the next,” said Seydou Baba Kounta, a professional tour guide.
“They cut off people’s hands, people’s feet. Schools were abandoned… Every day, people fled the town on trucks, on boats, or 4WDs,” he said.
The increased insecurity in northern Mali had wide-ranging effects on the population, according to Patrick David, regional food security analyst with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, including loss or theft of livestock (husdyr) and jobs, rising prices and the closure of markets.
“People had great difficulty obtaining basic foods because of lack of supply and price hikes. Livestock mortality was higher than normal. Many herders left for Mauritania. Even now livestock markets are poorly stocked,” he said.
Some 1,3 million people in northern Mali currently need immediate food assistance.
Who’s who
MNLA – National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. Tuareg group that launched an offensive in northern Mali in January 2012. Unilaterally declared the independence of “Azawad” on 6 April 2012. Subsequently sidelined by groups named below. Signed ceasefire with government on 18 June 2013.
AQIM – Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Has been present in northern Mali for a decade, training Islamist fighters and trafficking contraband (smuglervarer).
MUJAO – Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa. Regional Islamist militant group, splinter of AQIM.
Ansar Dine – Malian Islamist group formed in 2012 whose name means “defenders of the faith.” Led by Iyad Ag Ghali.
MIA – Islamist Movement of Azawad. Broke away from Ansar Dine in 2013, saying it rejected extremism and terrorism.
MAA – The Arab Movement of Azawad. Formerly the National Liberation Front of Azawad. Founded in 2012 to resist MNLA takeover of Timbuktu.
Social fabric destroyed
Læs videre på
http://www.irinnews.org/report/98261/new-irin-film-series-trouble-in-timbuktu
Meget mere om Timbuktu på http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbuktu
