麻豆约拍

In 2001, Malian music manager Manny Ansar founded the Festival in the Desert. It became a celebrated event where African musicians mixed with Western stars like Bono of U2 and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. The festival was forced to close in 2012 when Islamist extremists took control of Northern Mali and banned all music. Manny had been inspired to start the event by his friend Iyad Ag Ghaly. So he was shocked to discover that Iyad had become the leader of the militant Islamist group Ansar Dine which is still trying to impose its version of Sharia law in Northern Mali. Manny tells Matthew Bannister his story.