{"id":4439,"date":"2012-04-08T17:35:54","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T21:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=4439"},"modified":"2018-08-03T23:37:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T03:37:43","slug":"sunday-april-8-2012-bad-news-from-timbuktu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=4439","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, April 8, 2012 \u2014 Bad News from Timbuktu"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a per\u00adson\u00adal inter\u00adest in Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu (see blog for Mar 7, 2006<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>)<\/span>, so I have fol\u00adlowed, as best as I can, the recent events in Mali that affect it. After the fall of Gaddafi\u2019s regime, sev\u00ader\u00adal hun\u00addred young Tuareg who had been serv\u00ading as mer\u00adce\u00adnar\u00adies in his army have returned to Niger and Mali. Along with them came a large stock of weapons. This re-ignit\u00aded the low-lev\u00adel civ\u00adil war which had come to an appar\u00adent\u00adly sat\u00adis\u00adfac\u00adto\u00adry peace set\u00adtle\u00adment in 2009. Dis\u00adat\u00adis\u00adfac\u00adtion with the response to this renew\u00adal of vio\u00adlence seems to have trig\u00adgered a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat by the country\u2019s mil\u00adi\u00adtary against the demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly elect\u00aded gov\u00adern\u00adment. As a con\u00adse\u00adquence of the insta\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty fol\u00adlow\u00ading the coup, the \u201cNation\u00adal Move\u00adment for the Lib\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of Aza\u00adwad\u201d (MNLA<\/span>) quick\u00adly occu\u00adpied the three largest north\u00adern towns (Gao, Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu and Kidal) and declared an inde\u00adpen\u00addent state of Aza\u00adwad, cleav\u00ading away the thin\u00adly pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded north\u00adern half of Mali.<\/span><\/p>\n

Few events in the last few years have depressed me as much. Mali had lift\u00aded itself by its boot\u00adstraps from an intense\u00adly repres\u00adsive Marx\u00adist dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship, heav\u00adi\u00adly involved in the slave trade, to become West Africa\u2019s most promis\u00ading democ\u00adra\u00adcy. Now that promise is evaporating.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu is over\u00adwhelm\u00ading\u00adly eth\u00adnic Song\u00adhai (unre\u00adlat\u00aded lin\u00adguis\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly or eth\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly to the Tuareg). There was once a sub\u00adstan\u00adtial Tuareg minor\u00adi\u00adty in the city, but most left dur\u00ading the civ\u00adil war. The Bam\u00adbara, the prin\u00adci\u00adple eth\u00adnic group of Mali, inhab\u00adit the far south, and were nev\u00ader present in Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu in sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant num\u00adber. Ali Far\u00adka Tour\u00e9 (1939\u20132006), the gui\u00adtar play\u00ader of genius, and per\u00adhaps the kind\u00adest and most humane fig\u00adure of the region, was of eth\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly mixed parent\u00adage, and per\u00adformed in both the Song\u00adhai and Tuareg lan\u00adguages, as well as French. As the uncor\u00adrupt\u00adable may\u00ador of his native vil\u00adlage, as well as an inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly renowned artist, he was the liv\u00ading sym\u00adbol of peace, inter-eth\u00adnic col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion, and democ\u00adra\u00adcy in Mali. He was at the heart of the extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary musi\u00adcal renais\u00adsance that emerged in Mali, hand in hand with democ\u00adra\u00adcy. In a way, I\u2019m glad that he died with\u00adout hav\u00ading to wit\u00adness this dev\u00adas\u00adtat\u00ading rever\u00adsal of his life work.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The Tuareg in Mali have def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly legit\u00adi\u00admate griev\u00adances (there were abus\u00ades by the army dur\u00ading the civ\u00adil war), but their sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion has nev\u00ader been com\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adble to what it has been in neigh\u00adbour\u00ading Niger. The renew\u00adal of fight\u00ading has more to do with very un-tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal Tuareg youth, de-cul\u00adtur\u00adal\u00adized, recruit\u00aded into var\u00adi\u00adous armies and then cast loose look\u00ading for some\u00adthing vio\u00adlent to do, and with ambi\u00adtious men look\u00ading for a new ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal pow\u00ader base on which to build their lit\u00adtle empire. Many are cast-offs from Gaddafi\u2019s thug army. The MNLA<\/span>, how\u00adev\u00ader, is not nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly in charge of its own rebel\u00adlion. It has been increas\u00ading\u00adly forced to rely on an expe\u00addi\u00adent alliance with the dan\u00adger\u00adous Islamist group An\u00e7ar Dine<\/em>, which has con\u00adnec\u00adtions to Al-Qae\u00adda. This group has no motives (oth\u00ader than oppor\u00adtunism) that have any\u00adthing to do with the peo\u00adple of north\u00adern Mali, or Tuareg or Song\u00adhai cul\u00adture. They are dan\u00adger\u00adous fanat\u00adics. I sus\u00adpect very strong\u00adly that they have already side\u00adlined the orig\u00adi\u00adnal lead\u00ader\u00adship of the MNLA<\/span> (which is based in Gao), and are the ones who real\u00adly con\u00adtrol Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu. What\u00adev\u00ader their aims, the MNLA<\/span> are demon\u00adstra\u00adbly idiots for con\u00adnect\u00ading them\u00adselves to them. They will soon learn that they have reaped the whirlwind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuareg soci\u00adety is not a ready fit for the ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Islamist move\u00adment. It is Tuareg males, not females, who tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly cov\u00ader their faces with a veil, and women have nev\u00ader been con\u00adsigned to par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly sub\u00adservient posi\u00adtion. Both Tuareg and Song\u00adhai soci\u00adeties are noth\u00ading like the kind of plea\u00adsure-hat\u00ading, fanat\u00adi\u00adcal self-hatred and bar\u00adbarism that lies at the heart of the Islamist move\u00adment. But An\u00e7ar Dine\u2019s pow\u00ader base is not sup\u00adport from any local peo\u00adple, whether Tuareg or Song\u00adhai, but the cash and ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal zealotry of an inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal move\u00adment. Their leader, Iyad Ag Ghaly, is a psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly typ\u00adi\u00adcal fraud: once well known for booz\u00ading and par\u00adty\u00ading, he grew a beard and cosied up to jihadists<\/em> while assigned by the Malian gov\u00adern\u00adment as a diplo\u00admat to Sau\u00addi Ara\u00adbia. You can be sure that the piety is phony. <\/span><\/p>\n

You can also be sure that the peo\u00adple of Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu are about to suf\u00adfer. So will the cause of African democracy. <\/span><\/p>\n

I also, under\u00adstandibly, fear for the wealth of learn\u00ading that might be destroyed. There are many thou\u00adsands of books pre\u00adserved there. The library of Sanko\u00adr\u00e9 Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty in Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu was a great repos\u00adi\u00adto\u00adry of books for cen\u00adturies. It was found\u00aded in 988 AD<\/span> with an endow\u00adment by a wealthy Tuareg woman, who want\u00aded the city to have a seat of learn\u00ading on par with the great urban cen\u00adters of Islam. There were also many pri\u00advate libraries. Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu was a major cen\u00adter of the Islam\u00adic book trade, often tak\u00ading pay\u00adment for exports in books. When the French con\u00adquered it, many lead\u00ading fam\u00adi\u00adlies were afraid that the books would be stolen and cart\u00aded off to Paris, so much of the col\u00adlec\u00adtion was split up and hid\u00adden, with respon\u00adsi\u00adble fam\u00adi\u00adlies know\u00ading the hid\u00ading places. I saw only a small sam\u00adple of the huge total \u2014 they includ\u00aded many reli\u00adgious texts, of course, but also works on geog\u00adra\u00adphy, chem\u00adistry, med\u00adi\u00adcine, astron\u00ado\u00admy, and his\u00adto\u00adry. Among them are indige\u00adnous West African works and chron\u00adi\u00adcles. The vast major\u00adi\u00adty of these works have not been trans\u00adlat\u00aded, and are only begin\u00adning to be cat\u00ada\u00adlogued and assessed. I pre\u00adsume this process has come to a halt, under the cur\u00adrent polit\u00adi\u00adcal circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new rulers of Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu are not like\u00adly to have much inter\u00adest in, or sym\u00adpa\u00adthy, with this glo\u00adri\u00adous heritage.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a per\u00adson\u00adal inter\u00adest in Tim\u00adbuk\u00adtu (see blog for Mar 7, 2006), so I have fol\u00adlowed, as best as I can, the recent events in Mali that affect it. After the fall of Gaddafi\u2019s regime, sev\u00ader\u00adal hun\u00addred young Tuareg who \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,932],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-ao-blog-2012"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4439"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7603,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439\/revisions\/7603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}