BAMAKO, Mali Malis crisis deepened Wednesday, as officials in the fabled northern city of Timbuktu confirmed that the Islamic rebel faction that seized control of the town over the weekend has announced it will impose sharia law.
Rebels in the countrys distant north have taken advantage of the power vacuum created last month when renegade soldiers in the capital of Bamako overthrew the nations democratically elected leader. In the chaos that followed the March 21 coup, they advanced on strategic towns in the north, including the ancient city of Timbuktu, located over 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the capital.
( Rukmini Callimachi / Associated Press ) - Soldiers stand guard at junta headquarters in Kati, outskirt Bamako, Mali Tuesday, April 3, 2012. With coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo refusing to step down, surrounding nations have imposed severe financial sanctions on Mali, including the closing of the countrys borders and the freezing of its account at the regional central bank.
The ethnic Tuareg rebels included a secular faction fighting for independence, and an Islamic wing, Ansar Dine, whose reclusive leader called a meeting of all the imams in the city on Tuesday to make his announcement.
He had the meeting to make his message to the people known, that sharia law is now going to be applied, said the Mayor of Timbuktu Ousmane Halle, who was reached by telephone. When there is a strongman in front of you, you listen to him. You cant react, he said, when asked what the reaction was of the imams of a historic town known for its religious pluralism and its moderate interpretation of Islam.
Things are going to heat up here. Our women are not going to wear the veil just like that, said the mayor.
Kader Kalil, the director of a communal radio station who was asked to cover the meeting and who later interviewed the Ansar Dine leader Iyad Ag Ghali, confirmed that sharia had been imposed.
He said in addition to the wearing of the veil, thieves will be punished by having their hands cut off and adulterers will be stoned to death.
In a show of force, the Islamic rebels on Wednesday drove through the town in a tank-like armored-personnel carrier, their ominous black flag flapping in the wind above the cannon.
More than 90 percent of the citys roughly 300 Christians have fled since the city fell to the rebels on Sunday, said Baptist Pastor Nock Ag Info Yattara, who is now in Bamako. He said not one of the 205 people in his congregation, which has worshipped in Timbuktu since the 1950s, has stayed behind. We cannot live like that, he said.
Mali has effectively been partitioned in two ever since the rebel takeover. The fighters started their insurgency in January, but only succeeded in taking a dozen small towns before the coup. Then in a lightning advance, they took the three largest towns including the provincial capital of Kidal on Friday, the largest town of Gao on Saturday and Timbuktu on Sunday. What is worrying is that it is not yet clear which rebel faction has the upper hand.
Ansar Dine is believed to be allied with an al-Qaida faction, which has already kidnapped over 50 Westerners since 2003, including a Canadian diplomat in Niger and a British national, who was later executed.
The problem for us is that we dont know who is the master of our town, said the mayor, who explained that the Islamist faction had taken over the citys military camp, while the secular rebel group was stationed at the airport. What I deplore is the departure of the Christian community. Many said to me that they are obliged to leave. And they are right. I cannot guarantee their safety. And these are people that have lived side-by-side with us for centuries.
Islamists impose sharia law in Timbuktu; 95 percent of Christians flee, as Mali crisis deepens - The Washington Post
Radical Islam is becoming a religion of Death and Stagnation.
Rebels in the countrys distant north have taken advantage of the power vacuum created last month when renegade soldiers in the capital of Bamako overthrew the nations democratically elected leader. In the chaos that followed the March 21 coup, they advanced on strategic towns in the north, including the ancient city of Timbuktu, located over 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the capital.
( Rukmini Callimachi / Associated Press ) - Soldiers stand guard at junta headquarters in Kati, outskirt Bamako, Mali Tuesday, April 3, 2012. With coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo refusing to step down, surrounding nations have imposed severe financial sanctions on Mali, including the closing of the countrys borders and the freezing of its account at the regional central bank.
The ethnic Tuareg rebels included a secular faction fighting for independence, and an Islamic wing, Ansar Dine, whose reclusive leader called a meeting of all the imams in the city on Tuesday to make his announcement.
He had the meeting to make his message to the people known, that sharia law is now going to be applied, said the Mayor of Timbuktu Ousmane Halle, who was reached by telephone. When there is a strongman in front of you, you listen to him. You cant react, he said, when asked what the reaction was of the imams of a historic town known for its religious pluralism and its moderate interpretation of Islam.
Things are going to heat up here. Our women are not going to wear the veil just like that, said the mayor.
Kader Kalil, the director of a communal radio station who was asked to cover the meeting and who later interviewed the Ansar Dine leader Iyad Ag Ghali, confirmed that sharia had been imposed.
He said in addition to the wearing of the veil, thieves will be punished by having their hands cut off and adulterers will be stoned to death.
In a show of force, the Islamic rebels on Wednesday drove through the town in a tank-like armored-personnel carrier, their ominous black flag flapping in the wind above the cannon.
More than 90 percent of the citys roughly 300 Christians have fled since the city fell to the rebels on Sunday, said Baptist Pastor Nock Ag Info Yattara, who is now in Bamako. He said not one of the 205 people in his congregation, which has worshipped in Timbuktu since the 1950s, has stayed behind. We cannot live like that, he said.
Mali has effectively been partitioned in two ever since the rebel takeover. The fighters started their insurgency in January, but only succeeded in taking a dozen small towns before the coup. Then in a lightning advance, they took the three largest towns including the provincial capital of Kidal on Friday, the largest town of Gao on Saturday and Timbuktu on Sunday. What is worrying is that it is not yet clear which rebel faction has the upper hand.
Ansar Dine is believed to be allied with an al-Qaida faction, which has already kidnapped over 50 Westerners since 2003, including a Canadian diplomat in Niger and a British national, who was later executed.
The problem for us is that we dont know who is the master of our town, said the mayor, who explained that the Islamist faction had taken over the citys military camp, while the secular rebel group was stationed at the airport. What I deplore is the departure of the Christian community. Many said to me that they are obliged to leave. And they are right. I cannot guarantee their safety. And these are people that have lived side-by-side with us for centuries.
Islamists impose sharia law in Timbuktu; 95 percent of Christians flee, as Mali crisis deepens - The Washington Post
Radical Islam is becoming a religion of Death and Stagnation.
Sharia doesn't necessarily mean bad things 
