So...reading through the OP and the New Republic link it refers to, there is almost no mention of Al-Qaeda at all. This is the sole mention I could find (besides in the headline of the New Republic story):
> This vision of a philosophical, scientific Islam means little to the Al Qaeda–linked Islamist group Ansar Dine, which for most of last year ruled Timbuktu through terror, cutting off the hands of thieves, flogging women judged to be dressed immodestly, and destroying centuries-old tombs of local saints. In the summer, the militants commandeered Ahmed Baba, using it as a headquarters and barracks. Then, in January, French forces closed in on Timbuktu. As the Islamists fled, they trashed the library, burning as many of the manuscripts as they could find. The mayor of Timbuktu, Hallé Ousmani Cissé, told The Guardian that all of Ahmed Baba’s texts had been lost. “It’s true,” he said. “They have burned the manuscripts.”
There's quite a difference between "Al-Qaeda" and "Al-Qaeda-linked"...in that a linked-to group may think of Al-Qaeda as the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" but most certainly have different philosophical aims. Don't get me wrong: destroying a library is bad no matter who is doing it. But if there's anything we've learned in the last decade of international politics, it's that these kinds of distinctions matter, and have, on occasion, been exploited for propaganda purposes.
Edit: oh, and after doing a cursory Wikipedia lookup, it appears there may be no association at all:
Ansar Dine has its main base among the Ifora tribe from the southern part of the Tuaregs' homeland.[8] It has been linked with Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) because its leader Iyad Ag Ghaly is the cousin of AQIM commander Hamada Ag Hama.[4] In April 2012, Salma Belaala, a professor at Warwick University who does research on jihadism in North Africa said that this association was false, claiming that Ansar Dine was opposed to Al Qaeda.[9] Ag Ghaly was also previously associated with the 1990 Tuareg rebellion.[4] The group's members are reported to be from Mali, Algeria, and Nigeria.[10] Omar Ould Hamaha, who served as Ansar Dine's spokesman after April 2012, became the military leader of the AQIM-affiliated Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) in August 2012.[11]
> This vision of a philosophical, scientific Islam means little to the Al Qaeda–linked Islamist group Ansar Dine, which for most of last year ruled Timbuktu through terror, cutting off the hands of thieves, flogging women judged to be dressed immodestly, and destroying centuries-old tombs of local saints. In the summer, the militants commandeered Ahmed Baba, using it as a headquarters and barracks. Then, in January, French forces closed in on Timbuktu. As the Islamists fled, they trashed the library, burning as many of the manuscripts as they could find. The mayor of Timbuktu, Hallé Ousmani Cissé, told The Guardian that all of Ahmed Baba’s texts had been lost. “It’s true,” he said. “They have burned the manuscripts.”
There's quite a difference between "Al-Qaeda" and "Al-Qaeda-linked"...in that a linked-to group may think of Al-Qaeda as the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" but most certainly have different philosophical aims. Don't get me wrong: destroying a library is bad no matter who is doing it. But if there's anything we've learned in the last decade of international politics, it's that these kinds of distinctions matter, and have, on occasion, been exploited for propaganda purposes.
Edit: oh, and after doing a cursory Wikipedia lookup, it appears there may be no association at all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansar_Dine
Ansar Dine has its main base among the Ifora tribe from the southern part of the Tuaregs' homeland.[8] It has been linked with Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) because its leader Iyad Ag Ghaly is the cousin of AQIM commander Hamada Ag Hama.[4] In April 2012, Salma Belaala, a professor at Warwick University who does research on jihadism in North Africa said that this association was false, claiming that Ansar Dine was opposed to Al Qaeda.[9] Ag Ghaly was also previously associated with the 1990 Tuareg rebellion.[4] The group's members are reported to be from Mali, Algeria, and Nigeria.[10] Omar Ould Hamaha, who served as Ansar Dine's spokesman after April 2012, became the military leader of the AQIM-affiliated Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) in August 2012.[11]