Tin Hinan is the name given by the Tuareg to a 4th-century woman of prestige whose monumental tomb is located in the Sahara at Abalessa in the Ahaggar or Hoggar region of Algeria. The name means literally “she of the tents”, but may be metaphorically translated as “mother of the tribe” (or “of us all”) or even “queen of the camp” (the “camp” maybe referring to the group of tombs which surround hers). She is sometimes referred to as “Queen of the Hoggar”, and by the Tuareg as tamenoukalt which also means queen. [afrikanwomen tumblog]
Not once, but twice, the Ansar Dine thugs attacked a protest in the centre of Kidal staged by women who refuse to be cowed by their rules. The first time, the shocked observer reported, was in broad daylight. Unspeakable and unconscionable barbarity! Well done ladies for coming out again in the evening to show those opportunistic interlopers what’s what. As for Iyad ag Ghali, he already has a bad rap for being a corrupt diplomat who got booted out of Saudi because of his passion for whiskey. Well, the hard-drinking hypocrite’s really up against it now. Pressuring women to submit to rules about dress codes, and trying to bar them from employment was the cause of the protests, but publicly shaming and disrespecting women is going too far. Kidal isn’t Cairo!
Word now is that Ansar Dine has outstayed their welcome and been advised to pack up their unwelcome ideology and get out of Kidal.
I refuse to conceal my glee at this news. Forget ECOWAS, the African Union or NATO; the prospect of bataillions of angry Azawad women kicking disrespectful militant butt from .. oh wait, it can’t be “from here to Timbuktu“. Well, from Gao, Kidal and Timbuctu back to the Tunisian camps or wherever they hatched their stupid plan to hijack the rebellion while licking their wounds after Libya will have to be far enough for now. Please, oh please let this be a true story. It was reported on Sahara Medias website [ar], a generally reliable source. 😉
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@lissnup 