In this photo dated Feb. 1, 2013, Malian soldiers patrol the streets of Timbuktu. Heavy gunfire erupted on March 31, 2013 in the city as Malian troops were combing the city for infiltrated jihadists following a suicide attack.

Malian soldiers enter the historic city of Timbuktu, occupied for 10 months by Islamists who imposed a harsh form of sharia, on Jan. 28, 2013. Hundreds of people scrambled Monday to give French-led troops a hero's welcome as they entered the city.

Malian soldiers enter the historic city of Timbuktu, Jan. 28, 2013.

Fighters from Islamist group Ansar Dine stand guard during the handover of a Swiss female hostage for transport by helicopter to neighboring Burkina Faso, at a designated rendezvous point in the desert outside Timbuktu, Mali Tuesday, April 24, 2012. Two main groups now appear to be competing to govern northern Mali: Ansar Dine, which wants to see Sharia law brought to Mali, and separatist rebels who already have declared an independent state.

A museum guard picks up boxes holding ancient manuscripts, which were partially damaged by Islamist rebels, at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu, Mali on Jan. 31, 2013.

A museum guard picks up boxes holding ancient manuscripts, which were partially damaged by Islamist rebels, at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu Jan. 31, 2013.

Librarian Aboubakar Yaro examines an Islamic manuscript from the 17th century at the Djenne Library of Manuscipts, in Djenne, Sept.1, 2012.Librarians from the northern Malian town of Timbuktu--besieged since April by Al-Qaeda linked Islamists--are urging the digitization of all manuscripts.

"More than words" At a library in Timbuktu, an expert restores a damaged manuscript

In this Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 photo, a young vendor waits for clients alongside woven reed mats of the type purchased by fleeing Islamists, apparently to camouflage their vehicles, in Timbuktu, Mali.

In this Wednesday, April 11, 2012 photo, Tuareg separatist rebels from the NMLA (National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad) stand near their vehicle in Timbuktu, Mali.