Al-Qaeda linked Islamists destroy Timbuktu shrines

Al-Qaeda linked Islamists in northern Mali went on the rampage in Timbuktu today, destroying ancient tombs of Muslim saints just after UNESCO listed the fabled city as an endangered world heritage site.

The onslaught by armed militants from the fundamentalist Ansar Dine was launched amid the unrest in Mali's vast desert north that erupted in the chaotic aftermath of a March 22 coup in Bamako.

"They have raped Timbuktu today. It is a crime," said a source close to a local imam in Timbuktu, known as the "City of 333 Saints".

Witnesses told AFP the Islamists, holding parts of northern Mali, have so far destroyed three ancient shrines.

"The tombs of Sidi Mahmoud, Sidi Moctar and Alpha Moya in Timbuktu were destroyed Saturday by the Islamists... who are heading towards other tombs," said one witness, whose report was confirmed by the source close to the imam.

In addition to three historic mosques, Timbuktu is home to 16 cemeteries and mausoleums, according to the UNESCO website.

"This is tragic news for us all," Alissandra Cummins, chair of UNESCO's executive committee, said in a statement to AFP in Russia, where the body is meeting this week, describing the attacks as "wanton damage".

"I appeal to all those engaged in the conflict in Timbuktu to exercise their responsibility -- for the sake of future generations, spare the legacy of their past," she pleaded.

Ansar Dine, one of the armed Islamist groups which has seized control in northern Mali, has said no site would be safe in Timbuktu.

"Ansar Dine will today destroy every mausoleum in the city. All of them, without exception," spokesman Sanda Ould Boumama told AFP through an interpreter from the city.

The Ansar Dine spokesman suggested Saturday's action was in retaliation for the UNESCO decision on Thursday to put the World Heritage site, a cradle of Islamic learning founded in the fifth century, on its endangered list.