Gao (Mali) (AFP)

The Askia tomb in Gao (northeast), one of the four sites in Mali listed as Unesco heritage, will be rehabilitated, said Wednesday the Malian authorities and an organization for the preservation of monuments in conflict zones.

The rehabilitation plan, which runs for two years until 2022, should make it possible to safeguard "a spectacular testimony to the richness of the Malian heritage," Valery Freland, director of the Aliph, an organization that told AFP. is funding the project up to $ 500,000 in collaboration with the Malian state.

The site of the tomb of Askias, built of earth in 1495 by the Songhoy emperor Askia Mohamed, includes a pyramidal tomb and a mosque. One of the largest in the city, it is still used by locals.

The site does not show any obvious sign of deterioration, but the risk is structural.

"There are certain pillars that need to be restored, in particular," said Malian heritage director Moulaye Coulibaly during a site visit. To this must be added a repair of the surrounding wall and the mosque adjoining the tomb, among others.

Classified as World Heritage in 2004, the site was added in 2012 to the list of heritage in danger, due to the armed conflict which then began to affect Mali and which continues today.

That year, when a jihadist group had occupied Gao for ten months, the population of the city rose to protect this heritage, one of the main legacies of the Songhoy culture whose people reigned over a large western empire. African between the 15th and 16th centuries.

"We feared that the jihadists would do as in Timbuktu" where they had destroyed several mausoleums, explains Mahamane Hameye, member of civil society and among the founders of the "Patriots" movement which defended the tomb.

The jihadist threat has faded due to the presence of Malian, French and UN forces.

Created in 2017 under the leadership of France, Aliph is an international organization for the safeguarding of heritage in conflict zones. Eight countries are donors, including France, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

© 2020 AFP