A British couple have made a dramatic escape from Timbuktu after the town fell to fighters backed by al Qaeda following the military coup in Mali, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Neil Whitehead and Diane English fled across a 1,000-mile expanse of desert with the help of nomadic militiamen and African soldiers to reach Nouakchott, the capital of neighbouring Mauritania. They are now hoping to take sanctuary in the city's French embassy.
The couple, who owned and ran a budget hotel in Timbuktu, were caught up in the fighting as the Malian army fled and Islamic extremists took control of the city following a coup that overthrew the country's government.
They decided to make their perilous escape after learning that al-Qaeda had put a price on their heads.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph last night (Wednesday) after reaching Nouakchott, English said: "Its been a very long journey with barely any sleep. We've moved across the desert in three old army trucks but we are very lucky to get out and very grateful to those that helped us.
"We are tired and desperately need a shower but we have our dog with us and we hope our truck with all our possessions is going to follow us soon."
The couple bought the Hotel Alafia in the desert city in late 2010 after spending two years touring West Africa in a Land Rover. Whitehead, 58, a company director, and English, 54, split their time between a farm in Abergavenny and their property in Timbuktu.
The hotel offered budget accommodation to backpackers and independent travellers to the town, which is renowned for having the oldest Islamic library in the world. But last weekend Timbuktu fell to forces who have imposed Taliban-style Sharia.
The couple tried to leave the town on Saturday morning, only to find the roads blocked by the fleeing army columns.
"We went back home to lay low and tried again the following day. However we ran into a firefight, which was rather alarming," English said. "We went back to the house again to keep our heads down but there was a lot of firing in the town - it was clear a lot of people had a lot of weapons."
The couple's saviours were units of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a nomadic Tuareg force that has spearheaded a rebellion in recent months using weapons looted from Col Muammar Gaddafi's abandoned armouries. English contacted the new British embassy in Mali, which said it was working through the French embassy to arrange their evacuation with the help of the MNLA. "On Monday the MNLA brought us to the Timbuktu airstrip where we spent the night. By this stage al-Qaeda was in the town and we knew they were searching for us. The MNLA told them we had already left and we got out that night."
Reports from Timbuktu last night said al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and local hardline clerics of the Ansar al-Dine movement had imposed strict Islamic law on the town. The black flag of al-Qaeda was flying on the turrets of its ancient mosques and women had been ordered to wear burkas outdoors.
"My friends say they have been ordered to stop smoking and the women have been told to cover up," English said. "I don't think we'll be going back any time soon."
Foreign visitor numbers had already collapsed after a Dutchman, a South African and a Swede were seized by gunmen in November. A German abducted at the same time was killed by his al-Qaeda captors.
English told French television last month that the couple had decided not to abandon the town after the kidnapping. The couple said they were well treated by the MNLA, the main force in the region, which did not have an Islamist agenda.
"The MNLA are a local force that are looking for local independence because they complain that the Malian government has deprived the area of all the resources and favoured other parts of the country," she said. "From living there I would have to say I agree with them."
The UN Security Council last night condemned the military coup in Mali, calling for the immediate restoration of constitutional rule and the democratically elected government. It warned that al-Qaeda had gained a toehold in the region as a result of the coup.
"The council is alarmed by the presence in the region of the terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which could lead to a further destabilisation of the security situation," it said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}