Jihadists gone, masons are working to restore the mausoleums of Timbuktu

Roofs are torn off, mud bricks are strewn about and walls barely rise from the desert dunes where Timbuktu's storied mausoleums once stood and are now in ruins. Islamic radicals swept in and tore them apart as totems of idolatry, along with other symbols of the fabled city.

Now that the jihadists are gone, having been chased off by a French military intervention last year, masons are working to restore the mausoleums. The vandalized tombs serve as a bitter reminder to residents of this city, long known as a place of learning and of tolerance, of the savageries visited upon them during the almost year-long rule of the jihadists. The extremists banned music, dancing and alcohol, forced women to wear veils, and imposed Shariah law carrying out executions, public whippings and other punishments.