Northern Mali: Reconstruction work of Timbuktu Mausoleums to End in July

Bamako – The reconstruction of mausoleums of Saints in Timbuktu in northern Mali will soon be completed, said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“Three years after their rampage, the mausoleums of Timbuktu are again standing, ” says UNESCO on its website, adding that the restoration work started in 2014,” will be completed by the end of July ”.

In 2012, the highlight of the occupation of northern Mali by jihadist groups, many mausoleums of Timbuktu, world heritage of mankind, had been ransacked and destroyed.

The progress of these religious buildings reconstruction work has been the focus of a meeting held on 30 June in Bonn (Germany) on the sidelines of the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee, it is stressed out the UNESCO website.

At this event, ‘the history of this unusual site was traced and tribute was paid to the efforts of the international community and the mobilization of local communities,’ ‘indicated the same source.

‘The reconstruction of the mausoleums in Timbuktu is a fine example of successful implementation of the decisions of the World Heritage Committee’ ‘, said on that occasion, the President of the World Heritage Committee, Maria BaHmer.

He added that ‘we are extremely impressed with what has been done to save this property incomparable World Heritage’.

Pilgrimage sites in Mali and neighboring countries in West Africa, the mausoleums of Timbuktu were essential components of the religious system since, according to popular belief, they were the wall that protected the town from all dangers, reminds UNESCO.

These mausoleums, the oldest of which date back to the 13th century, 16 are inscribed on the World Heritage List. Fourteen of them were sacked in 2012 and their destruction was a tragedy for local communities, said the UN organization.