The Washington Post has revealed the details of a heroic story that emerged from last year's armed conflict in Mali.
In April 2012, the Islamic terrorist group Ansar al-Dine invaded the city of Timbuktu and began a reign of terror, destroying historical sites and imposing sharia law. The terrorist leaders took as their headquarters the multimillion dollar Ahmed Baba Institute, a library built for the preservation of ancient scholarship, thereby threatening the trove of priceless manuscripts housed therein. The institute's collection contained many writings from 12th- to 16th-century Arabic scholars whom these Muslims deemed heretical and whose works Ansar al-Dine likely would destroy.
Knowing this, Dr. Abdul Kader Haidara, a collector and curator for the institute, swiftly organized an effort involving library staff and other townsmen to hide these manuscripts in metal trunks and secretly transport them to a safe location. . . .
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