The AFP released a news story last month, picked up by the Sydney Morning Herald and other papers. It was titled ‘Islamists find Mali talks very tempting.’
WINE, women and song are putting Mali’s Islamists to the test as they talk about the future of their divided country with mediators in Burkina Faso.
”The problem is that in our hotel we can’t help looking at the beautiful women and listening to the music,” sighed Algabass Ag Intalla, a member of the hardline Ansar Dine, one of the groups controlling northern Mali since March.
”It’s a real test for us Muslims to have to look at all that as well,” he said, pointing to rows of alcoholic drinks in the lobby.
[…]
Soft music drifted through from the bar as they sat on couches in the hotel lobby.
Delegation spokesman Cheick Ag Wissa, speaking broken French, asked for the sound to be turned off, but only succeeded in having it lowered.
Almost as an afterthought, the article acknowledges:
in northern Mali […] Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, are trying to impose Muslim sharia law by force.
Under their regime, smokers, drinkers, adulterers and even football fans could face harsh punishment.
Ansar Dine is an Islamist group which the BBC reports is allied to Al Qaeda in the Maghreb and Boko Haram.
After declaring sharia law in Timbuktu, Ansar Dine have caused essentially all Christians to flee the city, causing a mass exodus.
Ansar Dine is now promising to destroy every mausoleum in Timbuktu.
Look, these guys are not 21st century Puritans, or a bit like the Amish but even stricter.
They are the allies of mass murderers who wish to impose sharia law in Mali, making life impossible for Christians and others. As evidenced by their destruction of the mausoleums of Timbuktu, our primary concern should be for their victims, not for the fact they feel tempted by loud music and unchained women.
