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Ahmed Baba library in Timbuktu torched by Islamists in pictures | World news

Ahmed Baba library in Timbuktu torched by Islamists in pictures

Malian Islamist rebels set fire to a library at the Ahmed Baba Institute of Islamic Advanced Studies and Research in Timbuktu. The library contained about 20,000 priceless manuscripts

Mon 28 Jan 2013 16.30 GMT First published on Mon 28 Jan 2013 16.30 GMT

  • A worker stands over examples of ancient Islamic manuscripts at Ahmed Baba library in Timbuktu, Mali

  • Around 20,000 ancient Islamic manuscripts are preserved in the air-conditioned rooms of the library

  • Detailed view of the annotations made by scholars on an old manuscript, within the span of several centuries

  • Manuscript dating back to the 15th century, and partly damaged by termites

  • The Ahmed Baba centre holds the library of the Manuscripts of the Desert

  • Morrocan style biography manuscript of Muhammad

  • The head of the library, Dr Mohamed Gallah Dicko (right), with Dr Stephanie Diakite (centre) and Djibril Doucoure, the keeper of the library (left), discuss which manuscripts need to be restored in 2003

  • Rediscovery and restoration of ancient Arab manuscripts at the Ahmed Baba Institute. Dr Stephanie Diakte in the manuscript restoration room in 2003

  • A book is scanned and digitised in the manuscript restoration room

  • The entrance to the Ahmed Baba Islamic Studies Library in Timbuktu

  • The Islamic centre and a mosque in Timbuktu. In 2012 al-Qaida-linked Islamists in northern Mali attacked and destroyed shrines in the city
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