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This is indeed a tragedy. Mali is no backwater but in its day an advanced civilization. Ibn Battuta, a world traveller, who was there in the 14th century, described it as a country where you could travel anywhere without any fear of molestation or robbery. This year on the Internet someone put up a list of richest men of all time and a Mali king Mansa Musa I came in first beating out the Rothschilds.