Man saves ancient Timbuktu treasures from destruction

(CBS News) BAMAKO, Mali - Timbuktu was a center of learning centuries ago. Last week, French forces chased out Islamic militants who'd seized Timbuktu and tried to destroy its relics. But one man outsmarted the marauders.

Fabled Timbuktu these days is a small dusty town, but proud of its noble heritage as a center of Islamic culture, art and medieval scholarship.

One of the manuscripts rescued by Abdul Kader Haidara included this 12th-century astrology chart.

/ CBS News

Last April, it was invaded by Islamic extremists who drove in to town with their heavy weapons and took over.

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Abdul Kader Haidara was there. He's one of the keepers of a trove of priceless Arabic manuscripts. The extremists' arrival, he told us, triggered his emergency plan:

"I bought every tin box I could find," he said, "the kind we store household goods in, and my staff and I filled them with manuscripts until the library was empty."

Abdul Kader Haidara rescued priceless Timbuktu artifacts from Islamist extremists who invaded the city.

/ CBS News

Manuscripts including a 12th-century astrology chart and an ancient Arab genealogy.

Haidara quietly distributed the full boxes to local families to hide inside their humble homes. Then he fled from Timbuktu, where the extremists were imposing strict Islamic law. They staged public floggings and destroyed ancient tombs. So there was every reason to fear for manuscripts painstakingly restored and so precious that since 2004, the Library of Congress had been making digital copies for safety.

Another treasure of Timbuktu rescued by Abdul Kader Haidara is this ancient Arab genealogy.

/ CBS News

When pictures emerged last week of Timbuktu manuscripts burned to ashes probably by retreating extremists, the world was horrified.

But less than one percent of that collection belonging to the government was lost, said Haidara. And as for his 30,000 documents hidden in the boxes, they're all safe.

Does that make Haidara a hero? "I think of myself more as a rescuer," he said.

But first and foremost, he's a guardian and savior of one of the world's great historical legacies.

[ardeinne]

judymart 14 writes: "No one's life is worth ancient documents."

Obviously they felt that these things represented their culture. Destroy their culture, destroy them as a people. They were willing to put their lives on the line for that. Obviously, Judy, you wouldn't have made that decision. I don't know if I would have had the courage to do it either.

It's like, I don't know if I would have had the courage to resist the Nazis in an occupied country in WWII either. I don't condemn those who didn't because I wasn't there & don't know if I would have, but I admire those who did.

I also admire the Malians who were willing to risk all for their culture. All hoor to them.

[judymar14]

It is good these Islamic 'militants' didn't get wind of the manuscripts being hidden by these families or this article would be about families being slaughtered.

No one's life is worth ancient documents.

[SL-Mania]

It's a good news. He is a hero.

What do Islamic militants think?
They destroyed historic treasures and tried to kill the girl who asserts that women have right to be educated at school. I can't understand them.

[Steanmer]

The Same happen when Columbus and The Criminals Spanish Catholic Church arrive to Mesoamerica,They Burn all the Maya's Manuscripts and Many Secrets from this ancient Culture(MAYA'S)