Islamiske ekstremister har slået til igen i Sahel-landet i Vestafrika og ødelagt uvurderlige kulturelle mindesmærker i den legendariske ørkenby Timbuktu – FN er i oprør og appellerer til verdenssamfundet om at standse vandalerne.
PARIS, 25 December 2012 – The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has called on the international community to act urgently to protect Mali’s cultural heritage after the latest wave of destruction at Timbuktu.
At least three mausoleums in Mali were reportedly destroyed on 23 December, including that of the Al Hassan and Al Houseyni twins, the agency said.
“I am profoundly shocked by the ferocity (voldsomhed) that has marked the latest round of destruction of Timbuktu’s mausoleums,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
Ms. Bokova reiterated UNESCO’s commitment to stand by the people of Mali, made after the first wave of destruction last July, when the mausoleums of Sidi Mahmoud, Sidi Mokhtar and Alpha Moya in Timbuktu were attacked.
Two emergency missions were subsequently carried out to assess damage, and the UN World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution to create an emergency fund for the rehabilitation and safeguarding of Mali’s cultural heritage.
“I call on the whole of the international community to act, as a matter of urgency, and take the measures necessary to guarantee the protection of this heritage, which is such an important part of Mali’s cultural identity, and of humanity’s history,” said Ms. Bokova.
“Such wanton (vilkårlig) destruction on these inestimable (uvurderlige) treasures is a crime against the people of Mali, who have always shown great tolerance towards different religious and spiritual beliefs and practices.”
According to UNESCO, Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the propagation (udbredelse) of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries.
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