On May 4, 2012, in Timbuktu, Azawad, the Islamist group Ansar Al-Din desecrated the tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar, a 15th century Islamic judge and scholar. Timbuktu is known as the city of the 333 saints, as it is home to the tombs of 333 saints whose spirits are believed to protect the city. Sixteen of these tombs, including the one profaned, are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
According to the South African Press Agency (SAPA),[1] Ansar Al-Din spokesperson Sanda Ould Boumama said that a new member of the movement had gone to the grave of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar to reproach persons praying there for their adoration of saints. Boumama refused to say whether Ansar Al-Din supported the desecration or not. According to SAPA, witnesses who went to pray at the tomb said that a Mauritanian member of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), along with other Salafis, tore off the doors of the tomb and set some items on fire, including a mosquito net, atop the tomb.
Following is a March 7 article on the incident by Aljimite Ag Mouchallate that appeared in French on the website of the news agency Toumast Press:[2]
"It was with tears in our eyes that we learned that the tomb of one of the 333 saints of Timbuktu had been profaned by some miscreants, who have shown respect neither for Islam nor for the spiritual value attached to these saints. Despite the thousand and one activities in which it is engaged at the moment, the MNLA [National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad] is called upon to take a firm stance vis-à-vis these acts, which herald a chaotic future in Azawad.
"A few weeks ago, we mentioned the abuses of Ansar Al-Din/AQIM in Timbuktu against civilians who lost their right to privacy thanks to these 'enlightened' people, who think they can dictate how to practice Islam. These repeated abuses led to a popular demonstration against Ansar Al-Din.
"Warnings by [MNLA's chief of staff] Colonel Mohamed Ag Najim, who went to the city [of Timbuktu] the following day, have been altogether ineffective. These 'enlightened' people started back on their crazy path as though nothing had been said. Worse, last week they went beyond the limits of [human] understanding [altogether]. In fact, after last Friday’s prayers, they impeded city dwellers from gathering around the tombs of the 333 saints. As their madness knows no bounds, they destroyed the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar, one of the greatest saints of the mystic city.
"It is with the utmost assertiveness that Toumast Press condemns this terrorist attack [perpetrated] by Abou Fadil [aka Iyad Ag Ghaly, Ansar Al-Din's leader] and his companions of various extraction. All human, just, and religious rules forbid the madness of these 'enlightened' people whose only objective, it is becoming increasingly evident, is simply the destruction of the ancient cultures of the people of Azawad and to replace them with their religious obscurantism.
"These 'enlightened' people will never succeed in eliminating Tuareg culture, one of the most ancient in the world, which has resisted all invaders from the Roman Empire to the French and Malian colonization, including the Arab invasion of the sixth century and the Ottoman Empire. Their satanic deeds are bound to fail, as the Azawadians are convinced of one thing: their greatest treasure is the cultures they inherited from their ancestors.
"But, before the people come up against Abou Fadil and foreign terrorists, the MNLA and its military staff must rapidly impose some order by enforcing the resolution of the Gao congress calling on all foreign groups to immediately leave the territory of Azawad and on the Azawadian groups to immediately relinquish their arms and join the process of national construction.
"We certainly understand that the MNLA is currently engaged in building up Azawad's administrative and military institutions, but this should not constitute a reason not to react with vigor to the chaos that Abou Fadil and his companions are wreaking in Azawad. The MNLA must undertake some swift initiatives to remind the entire international community that the light of a free and democratic Azawad… continues to burn with unparalleled brightness.
"In undertaking some firm initiatives, the MNLA must aim to show the others that Azawad and its people will never accept the diktat of religious obscurantists, whose only goal is the propagation of misery in a land known for its hospitality and fraternity, in spite of the most difficult environment on earth. The world is watching the MNLA, which must rapidly show that, now that independence has been proclaimed, Azawad is not short of men prepared [to make] any sacrifice so that a secular and democratic Azawad may cross the finish line of international recognition."
