Prime Minister of Mali asks Morocco for Help with Unrest

Following up on the last post, the Prime Minister of Mali visited Morocco to ask for assistance with the current political and cultural violence going on in the country.  Here is an  article  about the situation from al-Magharebia.
__________________________________

Mali calls on Morocco for help

2012-07-09

Morocco needs to use its international clout to help bring stability to Mali, the Malian prime minister said in Rabat.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 09/07/12 

.

Malian Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra on Friday (July 6th) concluded a two-day visit to Rabat to discuss the Mali crisis, Sahel security and bilateral co-operation.

"I came here to ask Morocco, the king, the government and the people, to use of the faith that the international community has in it to help Mali regain its integrity and sovereignty by all possible means, especially diplomatic channels," Diarra told reporters after meeting with his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelilah Benkirane.

The aim of the visit was to highlight the current situation in Mali to Moroccan officials, he stressed.
"What is happening in Mali affects not only my country, but also the whole of Africa and the sub-region in particular," Diarra said.
Malian Minister of Communication Hamdoun Toure told Magharebia that both countries shared similar views. He welcomed Morocco's willingness to help Mali combat terrorism.

Meanwhile, Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani said that his country was still playing an active role in handling the instability in Mali. All countries in the region must shoulder responsibility for seeking solutions to the serious problems faced by the country, especially the invasion of its northern region by terrorists, he said. Morocco, which takes a great interest in the Sahel region, is talking to different countries in order to find a solution to the crisis, El Othmani added.

Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, the speaker of the Chamber of Councillors, commented that the talks with Malian officials focused on security threats in the Sahel region. The situation requires all parties to come together to restore security and tackle crime, he added.

All security matters in the Sahel and the Maghreb are of interest to Morocco, Chamber of Representatives Speaker Karim Ghellab agreed.
The country officially welcomed the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution on Mali on July 5th. Morocco has urged Sahel and Maghreb countries to co-operate more closely in combating al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and affiliated groups.

Regional security and humanitarian challenges should be tackled by "thwarting the secessionist desires of certain armed movements in the region and the activities of terrorist groups and armed movements in this region, as well as organised crime networks", Morocco's UN Ambassador Mohamed Loulichki said on July 5th.

For his part, Toure called for bilateral co-operation not only in security but social and economic domains. "Morocco has decided to double the assistance it gives Mali for education purposes. The number of students who come to Morocco each year will rise from the current level of fifty to one hundred," he said.

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.

The Destruction of TImbuktu's World Heritage Sites

If you have been to Southern Morocco, you may have seen the sign that  says Timbuktu, Mali  is 52 days away (by camel through the desert).  Morocco has been a cultural, educational and religious  partner  with Mali.  Here is a piece from The Atlantic (with great photos) about the emergency situation being caused by the systematic destruction of shrines and manuscripts in the country by people being described as extremist Islamists.
____________________________

These 600-Year Old World Heritage Sites Might Be Rubble by August

 
By Max Fisher

Jul 3 2012, 4:30 PM ET
 An extremist group has seized the African city of Timbuktu, systematically destroying its monuments.

The West African city of Timbuktu used to be one of Africa's richest and most important, a nexus of trade across the Sahara and a center of religious and scientific learning as far back as the 1400s. The relics of that history still stand in the form of such world heritage sites as the University of Sankore. More recently, this city in the sprawling West African country of Mali has been a tourism draw. But, on April 2, it came under new ownership: rebels from an ethnic minority known as Tuareg, who'd sought independence for years. Five days later they got it, declaring northern Mali as the independent country of Azawad. Then, on June 1, breakaway rebels with the extremist Islamist group Ansar Dine (translation: "Defenders of Faith") took control of Timbuktu.

In their first month of rule, Ansar Dine has shut down the tourism industry ("We are against tourism. They foster debauchery," a representative said), sent locals fleeing, and, over the past four days, destroyed half of the shrines that mark Timbuktu's ancient and remarkable history. The United Nations condemned the destruction and the International Criminal Court suggested it could be a war crime, but Ansar Dine insisted they won't slow down, later pulling a beautiful Gothic door off the Sidi Yahya mosque that became one of the world's great centers of learning during the 1400s. They follow an extreme form of Islam (though a relatively modern one; it emerged in late-1700s Saudi Arabia) that sees Timbuktu's shrines and mosque-universities as sacrilegious; a form of idol-worship. Their campaign is still going -- it's been compared to the Taliban's early-2001 destruction of ancient Buddha statues -- and some observers worry that many of Timbuktu's historical treasures, which have survived countless invasions and empires, won't live out the month.