Timbuktu residents say 'Thank you God' that rebel Islamists are gone (+video)
By Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press / January 31, 2013
Timbuktu, Mali
A leaflet listing the regulations for women under militant Islamic rule now lies in dirt here at the tribunal in Timbuktu. Rule No. 1: The veil should cover the entire body. Rule No. 4: The veil cannot be colored. And Rule No. 8: The woman should not perfume herself after putting on the all-enveloping fabric.
Several days after French special forces parachuted in and liberated this storied city, there is a growing sense of freedom. In a number of houses situated across from where the rebels held their harsh religious tribunals, many of the girls under 10 are still wearing the head covering.
"It is out of fear of the Islamists that they still wear this, says Diahara Adjanga, the mother of one girl. "They hit everyone, even children."
The rebels seized control of Timbuktu and the other northern provincial capitals of Gao and Kidal last April. During the nearly 10 months of their rule, the Al Qaeda-linked extremists imposed harsh laws for women and publicly whipped those who went in public without veils.
More: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0131/Timbuktu-residents-say-Thank-you-God-that-rebel-Islamists-are-gone-video
for international cooperation in support of human rights. 
= new reply since forum marked as read
I know that the French Armed Forces have been the butt of many jokes since WWII, but they are just as good as any American service person.
I met a few of their special forces while in the Army and I certainly wouldn't mess with them.
Good job.
Remember Freedom Fries? 
Fatouma Traore, 21, said that there was one commander who was especially brutal to the women in Timbuktu.
“We don’t want the army to catch him. It’s the women who want to arrest him so that we can kill him ourselves. Even if you’re talking to your own blood brother on the stoop of your house, they hit you. Even if you are wearing the veil, and it happens to slip off, they hit you. This man, Ahmed Moussa, he made life miserable for women. Even an old grandmother if she’s not covered up, he would hit her.”
However, Moussa Traore, a 26-year-old teacher in Timbuktu, said the sense of freedom already is overwhelming despite the uncertainty.
“We were totally deprived of our liberty. We couldn’t listen to music, we couldn’t play soccer. We couldn’t wear the clothes we wanted. We couldn’t hang out with the girls we liked,” he said. “Now we can do everything — we can listen to music, we can kick a ball, we can flirt. All I can do is say: Thank you God.”
http://www.nationalmemo.com/timbuktu-revels-in-new-freedom-but-fears-linger/
for international cooperation in support of human rights. - So true! And may I add: ...rather than the 'rights' of states and militias to oppress these same humans by saying "What Malians do to each other is none of our business."
This is just your typical Western propaganda. 
