This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/islamic-radical-in-court-over-timbuktu-mausoleum-destruction/2016/03/01/1e389eb0-df93-11e5-8c00-8aa03741dced_story.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Islamic radical in court over Timbuktu mausoleum destruction Islamic radical in court over Timbuktu mausoleum destruction
(about 3 hours later)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — An accused al-Qaida-linked Islamic radical appeared Tuesday at the International Criminal Court for a hearing to establish whether evidence is strong enough to try him for his alleged involvement in the destruction of historic mausoleums in the Malian city of Timbuktu. THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi was an enthusiastic member of a radical Islamic occupying force that systematically destroyed most of Timbuktu’s World Heritage-listed mausoleums in 2012, prosecutors alleged Tuesday at an International Criminal Court hearing.
The case involves “the destruction of irreplaceable historical monuments” and a “callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations and their religion and historical roots,” Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told judges. She likened the crimes in Timbuktu to the destruction last year by Islamic State extremists of historic ruins in the Syrian city of Palmyra. Al Mahdi is the first suspect to face an ICC charge of deliberately attacking religious or historical monuments, in a case the court’s chief prosecutor likened to the destruction last year by Islamic State extremists of historic ruins in the Syrian city of Palmyra.
Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, who was sent to the court in September, is the first suspect to face ICC charges of deliberately attacking religious or historical monuments. The case involves “the destruction of irreplaceable historical monuments” and a “callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations and their religion and historical roots,” Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told judges at a hearing to establish whether evidence is strong enough to put Al Mahdi on trial.
Bensouda said that Al Mahdi, also known as Abou Tourab, helped organize the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque’s door in June and July 2012. All but one of the buildings is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites, she said. Bensouda said Al Mahdi, also known as Abou Tourab, helped organize the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque’s door in 2012. All but one of the buildings was on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites, she said.
Al Mahdi, dressed in a white robe, stood briefly early in the hearing to say that he understood the case against him. He wasn’t required to enter a plea. Al Mahdi, dressed in a white robe, stood briefly to say he understood the case against him. He wasn’t required to enter a plea.
Prosecutors allege that he was a member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that ruled across northern Mali in 2012. The militants were driven out after nearly a year by a French military intervention. Prosecutors allege he was a member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that ruled across northern Mali in 2012. The militants were driven out after nearly a year by a French military intervention. French forces arrested Al Mahdi in October 2014 in Niger and transferred him to ICC custody nearly a year later.
The radicals destroyed 14 of Timbuktu’s 16 mausoleums, one-room structures that house the tombs of the city’s great thinkers. The extremists condemned the buildings as totems of idolatry. The 14 mausoleums have since been restored. Al Mahdi was a Timbuktu-based expert on Islamic law who was recruited by Ansar Dine to lead a group that enforced the radicals’ strict interpretation of Islam on the occupied town’s inhabitants, prosecutors say. Judges were shown a video clip of him, an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, reading an Islamic court’s sentence to the public.
“Unfortunately, at that time it was totally impossible to stop the destructive rage of the armed groups ... and protect these buildings of such immense and immeasurable value,” Bensouda said, adding that Al Mahdi was a “proactive and determined” member of the group that destroyed the mausoleums. The radicals destroyed 14 of Timbuktu’s 16 mausoleums, one-room structures that house the tombs of the city’s great thinkers, calling them totems of idolatry. The mausoleums have since been restored.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.