at. the. center. of a. discovery. video and audio podcast and language courses. center at media center dot w dot com.

for europeans timbuktu was long a mysterious place in the middle of nowhere today it is the scene of a battle to save an endangered cultural heritage the history of this ancient trading center the gateway to the desert is still in evidence here. at the same time the city also seeks to maintain its connection to the modern world in its heyday back in the fifteenth and sixteenth century timbuktu was one of the intellectual centers of the african world precious collections of manuscripts contained all the knowledge of the time that knowledge still lives. on in numerous

family libraries. these treasures were threatened when in april twenty twelve jehad as the militia occupied northern mali and timbuktu subjecting people there to tyranny. and destroying their sacred mausoleums the historic documents were in immediate danger. a unique rescue mission to save the manuscripts began. for him. abdel cutter haidar is one of the men behind the rescue mission thanks to him the cultural heritage did not fall prey to the islamist extremists. his family's library is now in safe keeping in bamako the capital of mali its

collection of manuscripts is among timbuktu's largest and oldest. abdel cutter haidara is an error and guardian to these treasures. the library is an important collection of scientific philosophical and theological manuscripts as well as literary texts written in arabic and african languages. the collections contain texts on issues of science and religion but also on everyday life love poems unique chronicles of west africa's kingdoms descriptions of ice surgery in the fourteenth century and discussions of the koran about the coexistence of muslims and christians that are still meaningful today haidar often refers to the old texts many of them are still surprisingly relevant.

when we talk about good governance. you also have to create the necessary conditions for it. you have to do everything to find the right way to want such governance. do not forget the workers do not forget the women do not forget the children. all of society must be well governed. another manuscript describes how foreigners should be treated it cites the story of hind place by a german expert on africa who came to timbuktu in eight hundred fifty three disguised as an arab he was arrested as a spy and like some other european explorers before him was to be executed but shaikh. timbuktu spiritual leader issued an islamic legal ruling that placed bart under his protection. so here's

our guest foreigners. he did not come here with the intention to kill us not to wage war on. we do not have the right to kill him we do not have the right to seize his belongings. he is a citizen like everybody else. the qur'an clearly states that no harm must come to him and that is of great significance. this is an example of islam is tolerance. for. this. but tolerance fell on hard times in timbuktu. in april twenty twelve islamist on saturday in militia invaded timbuktu and occupied the entire north of mali.

in the name of islam they forced their dictatorial regime upon the population while seeing themselves as liberators. our path is peaceful our goal is religion so we don't need to conquer. islam condemns weiland jihad aims at the extinction expulsion of those who oppose the spread of islam. is not our goal to kill people or cause bloodshed. jihad aims at cleansing the country of those who defy shari'a and oppose the spread of islam. was at about the top of the winter. they came from the desert and islamist militia some of them with links to al qaida in the islamic magreb they have taken advantage of a military coup in mali's capital bamako and conquered the north of mali together with the separatist why rag later they drove away their trial right fighters and

established their sole rule. the occupying militia was heavily armed and devout true faith as they understood it came from the barrels of guns. for ten months the islamist dominated everyday life. some of the young fighters were former neighbors who had recently joined the militia. they enjoyed their feeling of importance and were well paid. every day life was organized strictly according to extremely rigid rules. the behavior of women was a special thorn in their side. when the islamists were here we didn't look at them we lowered our heads. we had to wear gloves they wouldn't take the product out of our hands we put them down they took

them and gave us the money. we didn't look up again until they were gone no part of our face was to be visible except our eyes they told us to look down and not approach anybody we weren't allowed to deal directly with them or barter products we just sat there with our eyes open they hit us and accused us of ill doings. playing soccer was outlawed as were secular music mobile phone ring tones dancing smoking and alcohol the headscarf was mandatory for women and no uncovered skin was to be seen any violations were punished severely but the holy warriors had a hard time convincing the people of timbuktu. you come here claiming to be muslims because you have weapons you claim to be our leaders. instead you should assemble all muslims first and explain your knowledge of islam to them. if muslims say we don't agree with that then you must bring forward your proof from the koran or the hoodie but if you point your weapons at muslims they will be afraid one day

a muslim follows god's commandments for the sole reason that his heart is with god but if he's afraid of armed people his heart is unable to reach god anymore. people can be afraid of weapons and still reach god. but. with a lot of things on us. we didn't respect that. the first thing that they wanted to force an os was their method of education. we wanted our children to continue going to school. they said that boys and girls had to be taught in separate classes. in class explain to them that that was not possible. we did not have enough classrooms

or enough teacher. in the end we had to accept boys and girls sitting in separate rows. and certain classes like philosophy or the history of mali. were not allowed to be taught anymore. by now school lessons in timbuktu you have returned to normal. co-education of girls and boys was against the holy warriors morals to them all western education was haraam or forbidden especially for girls because it supposedly spoiled their character. during the occupation the girls of my generation felt suffocated. they

weren't allowed to dress or go out the way they wanted. we were separated from our friends because many of them fled south we missed them and. we were unable to study because our school was closed for almost an entire year we couldn't go to school so we were lagging behind in our studies compared to them and that made us the barest also for. sure is very distressing no law demands things like chopping off someone's hand for stealing or things like that. thank. you the girls didn't wear headscarves until the arrival of the mujahedeen they said they didn't know that islam demands of all women wear a veil they look at the europeans for guidance they watch their movies they are manipulated by western media you maybe press people but you know that the media are

manipulative t.v. radio all they ever talk about is the western world that is why our daughters our wives and children want to live a western lifestyle. hamaha used to attend secondary school in timbuktu himself together with girls by occupying timbuktu he and his followers wanted to stop the advance of western lifestyle as they put it. or mark will have a heart seen here with his followers during the occupation and twenty twelve had a hard time winning over timbuktu's population and the local media to his religious goals. the chasm between his fundamentalist ideas and the historic city of learning and trade was too large. for the west timbuktu has long been a place of fable full of mystery and immeasurable treasures a symbol of the remote and unknown. but the city known as the pearl of the desert

has centuries of history as an important west african crossroads today it belongs to mali. timbuktu has long been the gateway to the sahara desert and the world beyond. today it is home to some fifty thousand people who seek to maintain a connection to the modern world while maintaining many of their old traditions. just a few years ago ethnic conflicts were rare most of the time people coexisted peacefully fair skinned arabs and. ellen and many other ethnic groups with their different languages and cultures. girls went to unveiled and confident women handle business and teenagers probably thought of the same things as they do most everywhere. the ginger bear mosque dates back to the fourteenth century together with the other

great mosques of timbuktu it formed the hub of west african scholarship during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in more than one hundred fifty quranic schools affiliated with the mosques the most distinguished islamic scholars of the magreb taught more than twenty thousand students they studied the koran and the prophet's life conducted scientific research and wrote down their findings in manuscripts to this day a moderate form of islam is practiced here strongly influenced by sufism and african religions. up to mind ben s.l.u.t. leads friday prayers a ginger bam asked. the

loans to a centuries old dynasty of scholars he watches over his family's library. many manuscripts have been passed down through generations. a great deal of them were not preserved properly and were damaged by whether want termites. or our forefathers didn't know how important these manuscripts were and. no but then more sober work on him and. many family libraries near timbuktu are in a disastrous condition they desperately need to be saved from destruction. up till carter haidar takes long drives to surrounding villages to inspect the manuscripts .

he's been trying for years to convince the family leaders to hand over their treasures to his institute that way they can be restored as quickly as possible and . negotiations are often long and tedious because they say they can't just hand over the family legacy. dora tries to convince the patriarch that soon nothing will remain to pass on to further generations if nothing is done to preserve the brittle manuscripts. the restoration work took place and why doris angio workshop called saddam a d.c.i. or in the state run institute in timbuktu. that was until war broke

out in two thousand and twelve. according to legend madame buck too used to wait by a well in the desert looking after the belongings of the caravans the travelers would camp here in order to rest at timbuktu the well of buck to. it was located at the crossroads for trade routes. linked to the mediterranean with the heart of africa. timbuktu has always been a place of encounter and cultural transformation here with us right here in new civilization emerged. here lay on the route to mecca the way north of a much use route. with as long as people and goods pass for through here one jim

back to flourish. to popular thought it is yet to our prosperity. traders from the margret also brought islam and their culture to west africa. the caravans transported salt ivory gold and slaves to egypt and morocco these were traded for coffee weapons and books in a sense timbuktu was the first global city in africa a center for the exchange of goods and knowledge a place of tolerance and coexistence of the many different peoples and cultures of the sahara region who came there to trade so the sharp objects from artillery and so forth and marched on these days exchange of goods could be of material but also of the immaterial nature of your culture and writings books were an important trading commodity or. that you could earn the most money until about

a tailor books who book if you had you were not considered poor. and if i were a copyist you did not live in poverty. there's a children all who were sent to timbuktu by their parents who fell down the trade. is all of those contributed to timbuktu's prosperity. there was no paper but it was important shipped from morocco and europe. everything that was needed was transported on the caravan routes. the caravans also carried books which were then solvers and some people who were not the first and foremost traders would copy and write books and then sound.

scholars and peoples meant to study the writings in the homes of theologians and preachers. so long solo. i mean lot of. all large matter who families had their own manuscripts. they were family. they were not so on but lent out if you needed a book you would borrow it from america. visit the world in which. we were wrong. a lot. of

thanks for. the manuscripts were also important guidebooks for people's daily lives in timbuktu and gave practical advice if for example a woman asked herself whether her illegitimate child could gain entry to paradise. i know that you're entering into paradise depends soley on good conduct everyone who dies as a muslim will enter paradise. this also applies to illegitimate children there is no difference. each of us is responsible for his or her own actions. you know being a child is not responsible for its parents actions towards god. according to the

koran no one carries the burden of another person. all people are responsible for themselves this is. right from the beginning johnny rebel's occupied the ahmed baba institute the state research center with its important library. the basement contained over eleven thousand valuable manuscripts were the qur'anic interpretations in the old manuscripts not consistent with the fundamentalist islamic teachings where the manuscripts in danger mohammad a researcher at the institute was very concerned. about the institute was abandoned and that most of the employees had fled during the occupation. they left the manuscripts to their own fate. for the future seemed bleak but there was no work so they were forced to leave. but nobody was permitted to enter the

building which was built by south africa. but nobody was allowed to enter except for the occupying forces a. lot of people everyone was concerned the head of the ahmed baba institute the owners of the family libraries the population of timbuktu the delegation was sent into the jihadi camp to ensure that the manuscripts were safe. but. what value do the manuscripts of timber to have to you as an intellectual. so they contain our history they are us so what are we without the manuscripts in this institute we can't imagine a community without them they are our history our culture. so you would do everything in your power to protect the manuscripts. so we don't even need to discuss those.

but was he to be trusted with the jihadists really safeguard the manuscripts. after the meeting the director wasn't sure. when i think. we can cooperate with an sardines people. if you they are understanding people and . it is also their culture their religion. they too have grandfathers when trusted us with manuscripts. we share the same religion. so far nothing has been destroyed. but cars were confiscated and motorbikes. we don't know what's going to happen. then followed what many people had predicted in may twenty twelve rebels began

destroying the mausoleums. believers were supposed to pray directly to allah not to an ancient shrine. but. when we destroyed that people said we disturbed the grades but we didn't do anything to them. why would we have gone into the graves we didn't disturb any grapes we aren't even allowed to disturb the graves of nonbelievers according to islam building a house on top of a great that is not allowed. we destroyed the muslims we didn't disturb any graves so we did nothing wrong. because a muslim is not consistent with sharia. i don't understand why it's not consistent with sharia it's not allowed the mound of the great must be lower than the kneeling . but prices threaten the survival of the libraries. this is the conquest of timbuktu came as a surprise. nobody saw it coming. after one

month people ask themselves how are things going to continue like this but when will it stop. slowly but surely they understood that these people had not come because of islam but because of other things. or was so we decided to take matters into our own hands. after witnessing the destruction of the mausoleums everyone was aware that the manuscripts were in grave danger. and amazing rescue mission began. on a. big we decided to save the books because of the war in the north of mali. everyone was feeling. the traders with their goods and their money. our fortune

lies in our cultural heritage so we did everything in our power to smuggle it out of the war zone and i think that is the normal thing to do. the manuscripts were first removed from the publicly known libraries because the jihadists would target them first. the libraries were empty shelves and showcases cleared. in may twenty twelve thousand works were safely removed from him and ben are so u.t.s. library imo. this was to be just the beginning of a large scale rescue mission that lasted six months.

before the summer this is a look at the plan that we secretly hit the manuscripts and specially main trunk the day of the gun guess what led up to my list because. these were then carried away by river of course the foreign cars always donkey carts across the city on the other side the world live in absolute secrecy lovely going to school. just for three of them on the screen. at first the trunks were stored in the homes of the families the books originally belonged to. unesco and its representative in mali followed the operation from the sidelines the world heritage what's at stake here. that. we were in daily contact with them.

and we had the obligation and a great responsibility not only to protect our sources of information but also protect those who were putting their lives at stake. in the people who were trying to save the manuscripts the manuscript in the fair said. some families decided to hide their libraries in timbuktu. during the occupation everyone tried to hide their manuscripts. and some of them took them to bamako. we decided to store them here in different locations. we believe that transporting them through the streets would have involved too many obstacles and was too dangerous. we weren't sure if they would make it to bamako. so the family council decided to

divide the trunks up among family members and hide them and various secret locations here in timbuktu. most of the manuscripts however was shipped safely out of the city in october twenty twelve the un security council declared its readiness to respond to molly's request for an international military force. it was clear that the world's cultural heritage had to be evacuated from the war zone to prevent it from being destroyed by car. by boat by motorbike by road by waterway. course issues. as young back you ation of the manuscripts had begun north of young men was that. we were informed of that just got the. script

we had to keep the mission a secret do we had to protect those who were risking their lives or supplying their . so the sky. the trunks were transported over a thousand kilometers to molly's capital bamako. we removed many manuscripts from the war zone to be precise we managed to salvage ninety five percent of the region's manuscripts. near there. but the gist harvests were not the only problem again and again there were incidents with police officers during the long journey. every checkpoint could potentially put a stop to the evacuation mission. it was a dangerous mission about two hundred activists and volunteers were involved often

risking their own lives more than two thousand trunks were smuggled from timbuktu to bamako with no losses. every checkpoint posed a security threat with police officers allow them to pass or what they confiscate the trunks believing them to hold stolen goods. and. many of. those in charge of the operation repeatedly had to intervene either in person or by telephone and give confirmation to the police officers that everything was above board and the necessary paperwork was available for inspection. and this went on day after day night after night for several months.

and quite the same. credible courage that these heroes of timber. to display to the packers not simply remain soley the responsibility of mali. we needed to help them. using all our resources when formed the international community. and we also contacted the un security council. and we sounded the alarm yet we wanted the world to know what was happening in mali back to. us. and we could only intervene with the means available to us. and we were frustrated because you know sco doesn't have an army or the you know square the.

military forces then moved in in january twenty third teen during operation set about the french and mali and forces we took him back to as well as the entire north of mali. the islamist insurgents often retreated without resistance into the desert and disappeared without a trace. but they left behind destroyed mosul liam's burned manuscripts and a traumatized population. while we're treating the hottest had burned about four thousand manuscripts. for weeks french and mali and troops relentlessly pushed forward into northern mali tanks world along the main road between timbuktu and bamako. the evacuation of manuscript was either recruited to side roads or continued by boat.

sometimes a transportation vehicle was shot at an area from an aircraft when it was suspected that weapons were in the trunks. the strategy of these armed groups to group as our navy was to take everything from the residents of timbuktu that was a vital importance to them it. in fallujah if that is taken from them. they no longer have any points of reference lash it will be as if they had never even existed. there make there they exist in a particular land if you are nothing in that. it's easy to manipulate you. economy they can do what they like with you. we had to prevent cost what it

may is going to differ young absalom also a. day i think. that this we had to look on as the more the limbs were destroyed. the same as happened in power myra. and i'm sure same as happened in most of the most. and then shores the same as happened in yemen yemen and in other countries.

after more than six months the rescue operation was largely completed over three hundred seventy seven thousand manuscripts from thirty five family libraries and the state owned library had been saved ninety nine percent and all. the last trucks arrived in bamako in february twenty thirty in the family libraries from timbuktu were finally in safety again in the new center belonging to haidar as n.g.o.s. haidar checked the condition of the boxes and manuscripts had they been further damaged during transport in the baloch oh a new danger was awaiting the manuscripts had been preserved for centuries in a dry desert climate and were already in fragile condition in bamako a rainy season lasting several months and high humidity took a further toll on the old documents the restoration work that had begun before the occupation was now even more urgent. but most of timbuktu's

mausoleums couldn't be protected from the islamists vandalism thirteen of the sixteen ancient tombs had been destroyed. reconstruction of this world cultural heritage in timbuktu began soon after liberation with the help of unesco the work including the mausoleum at ben a so u.t.s. ginger bear mosque. with the support of the international community all the buildings have been. reconstructed. but without military protection this part of our world's cultural heritage could not have been preserved. that is one of the better lessons learned from timbuktu. at the sub institute in bamako the work of preserving the manuscripts which had been interrupted by war could finally be resumed. it's

a race against time. every loose leaf collection of documents is given its own box for protection and storage. next the documents are catalogued and digitalized. the long term objective is to create a central catalog and a public online database that can be accessed by international researchers so far only a small portion of the manuscripts have been studied by researchers. as are one of . the manuscripts that have been heavily damaged must be repaired and restored as soon as possible. but most important of all focus and they have to be translated one like. if translate them and make them available to the public at

large. and. in the western understanding of africa it's often assumed that the continents tradition is only an oral one passed on through stories music and dance but the manuscripts show that the african continent has a long history of islamic scholarship and literacy and an important scientific and philosophical tradition now this cultural heritage can be made available to everyone for africans it is part of their identity. all of timbuktu's heritage is based on its manuscript. education is based on the good conduct. based on the manuscripts. they embody the light of timbuktu.

every restored manuscript that is added to the shelves makes this light shine again . to the excellent example to give courage and strength to other people as well. everywhere in the world. if it worked. it can work in moser. and in palmyra. it can work in tunisia. in libya yemen. whenever world cultural heritage becomes a military target population must not be left alone to deal with it. that is why we see timbuktu as a great success story. and. haidara

too can be proud of the successful rescue mission but to this day some of his dreams remain unfulfilled mormon my dream is that one day we'll be able to say there are no problems left in timbuktu on the dam and take all our manuscripts and return them to timbuktu that's my dream . but that day has yet to come it will take some time before the manuscripts can safely return to timbuktu. the jihadists have been expelled for now but they have not been defeated the situation in timbuktu remains tense and its cultural heritage is still in danger. the manuscript still have a long journey home ahead of them.

my song curiosity. to. take it personally. with all the wonderful people and stories that make the game so special. for all true fans love. more than football online hash tag germany decides the day of decision is near. the coast you want but if we on the f.t.p.'s new concepts and impatience is a virtual function of me are ready to take responsibility to help this country. we have more than enough parties participating in incompetent governments but not the left party the money can do better polls in germany open on september twenty fourth

. what do germans want for their country. what do the different parties stand for. and which party will come out on top. d.w. your expert on germany's bundestag election two thousand and seventeen. germany besides german bundestag election two thousand and seventeen on d w. hurricane maria now a category five storm packing top wind speeds of over two hundred fifty kilometers per hour has slammed into the caribbean nation of dominica forcing the rescue of the country's prime minister its path is taking it along the chain of islands still

trying.