A resident of Timbuktu walks past the restored City of 333 Saints' Djingareyber Mosque.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

Residents of Timbuktu encourage workers restoring the City of 333 Saints' Great Mosque, April 10, 2006 prior to the Maouloud festival, marking the birth of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. The Djingareyber Mosque was built by the Sultan of Mali, Kankan Moussa, on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

Residents of Timbuktu restore the City of 333 Saints' Djingareyber Mosque on April 10, 2006. The fabled desert city of Timbuktu fires the imagination of every adventurer, but an outbreak of fierce fighting in the region has raised fears tourists may snub the African treasure.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

A resident of Timbuktu visits "The flame of Peace" monument on April 11, 2006. The monument was built in 1995 with the weapons of the Toureg rebellion. The fabled desert city of Timbuktu, located in northwestern Mali, fires the imagination of every adventurer, but an outbreak of fierce fighting in the region has raised fears tourists may snub the African treasure.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

Dromedaries hang in a street of the northwestern Malian city of Timbuktu on April 11, 2006. The fabled desert city of Timbuktu fire the imagination of every adventurer, but an outbreak of fierce fighting in the region has raised fears tourists may snub the African treasure.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

A man riding a donkey passes an anti-HIV/AIDS poster on the outskirts of Timbuktu, April 9, 2002. Placard reads: " AIDS is everywhere, even in the desert. Protect yourself!"
- [GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images]

A picture taken on April 11, 2006 shows Timbuktu inhabitants passing by the mosque in a street of the northwestern Malian city.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

Camel traders gather April 9, 2006 in a bid to welcome Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who arrived that day in Mali on a visit to celebrate the Maouloud festivities, commemorating the birth of the prophet Mohamed in the north of the country.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

Muslim pilgrims pray inside Timbuktu's Djingareyber Mosque on April 10, 2006 ahead of the Maouloud festival, marking the birth of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. The Mosque was built by the Sultan of Mali, Kankan Moussa, on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325.
- [ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images]

Sixteen historic scripts from the ancient African town of Timbuktu, dubbed the "The Mali Manuscripts," are publicly exhibited at a gallery in Johannesburg, October 1, 2005. The scripts, some dating back over 800 years, were used to teach mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, medicine and many other subjects in Timbuktu, Mali.
- [FATI MOALUSI/AFP/Getty Images]

A Tuareg gives a call with his satellite phone near his four-wheel drive, while drinking tea, November 17, 2006 in the North Malian desert.
- [GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images]