"Everyone in Timbuktu heard the shots," he said quietly ... the first documentary evidence of democracy being practiced in Africa, a letter from an emissary to the sheikh of Masina.

Timbuktu was a major centre of Islamic learning between the 13th and 17th Centuries and was added to the Unesco world heritage list in 1988. Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African ...

Wearing all-white traditional west African robes, his head wrapped in ... whose actions had a "traumatic effect on the population of Timbuktu". The people "lived in an atmosphere of fear, violence ...

Trying to bring peace to one of the earth's most inhospitable and lawless places ...

Many African kingdoms, including Benin and Kongo ... expanding into the important trading cities of Timbuktu and Gao. Mali became famous for its trade in gold and the empire became incredibly ...

MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. Supporters of armed military extremists have sieged the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali, Al Arabiya reported, citing local sources. According to them, militants have ...

Sangaré burst on to the African music scene more than 30 years ... and which would not have been made had normal life prevailed. Timbuktu will deserve a prominent place on that list.