{"id":156275,"date":"2015-10-01T05:55:58","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T05:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=156275"},"modified":"2015-10-01T08:40:54","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T08:40:54","slug":"timbuktu-mausoleum-destruction-suspect-appears-at-icc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/10\/timbuktu-mausoleum-destruction-suspect-appears-at-icc\/","title":{"rendered":"Timbuktu mausoleum destruction suspect appears at ICC"},"content":{"rendered":"
A suspected Islamist militant accused of destroying cultural sites in Timbuktu has appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the first case of its kind.<\/p>\n
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is suspected of war crimes over the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque in the ancient Malian city in 2012.<\/p>\n
He was handed over by Niger after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest.<\/p>\n
Islamists occupied the city until they were ousted by French forces in 2013.<\/p>\n
Wearing a navy-blue suit and wire-rimmed spectacles, Mr Faqi told the court: “My name is Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, I am from the al-Ansar Tuareg tribe.”<\/p>\n
He told the court he was born “about 40 years ago” in Agoune, 100km (60 miles) west of Timbuktu, and was a “graduate of the teachers’ institute in Timbuktu and… a civil servant in education in the Malian government beginning 2011”.<\/p>\n
He said he wished to be spoken to in Arabic, but gave no other statement during the proceedings at which the charges were read out.<\/p>\n
The judge said the next hearing would be on 18 January, where a decision would be taken whether to put the suspect on trial.<\/p>\n
Treasures of Timbuktu<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n According to the prosecutor, Mr Faqi was a “zealous member” of Ansar Dine, a Tuareg extremist militia with links to al-Qaeda, reports the BBC’s Anna Holligan who was in court.<\/p>\n He is alleged to have been head of the Hesbah – or what some call the “manners’ brigade” – which enforced strict Islamist law in Timbuktu during the unrest that rocked Mali in 2012 and 2013, and of being involved with and executing the decisions of the so-called Islamic Court of Timbuktu.<\/p>\n During their occupation, the militants vandalised and destroyed mosques and mausoleums, and burnt tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts.<\/p>\n The city – which is listed as a World Heritage Site by Unesco – was considered the centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th Centuries.<\/p>\n At one time it counted nearly 200 schools and universities that attracted thousands of students from across the Muslim world.<\/p>\n\n