‘Timbuktu shrines razed as examples’
‘Hope trial will send a stern warning’
THE HAGUE, Aug 23, (AFP): A Malian jihadist accused of attacking the fabled desert city of Timbuktu chose its most revered ancient shrines for destruction “to serve as examples”, the International Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi pleaded guilty as his unprecedented warcrimes trial opened Monday before The Hague-based ICC, where he stands accused of razing some of the west African city’s most historic mausoleums. Mahdi, aged about 40, is the first Islamic extremist charged by the tribunal and the first charged with crimes arising out of the conflict in Mali.
The wanton destruction by jihadists triggered global outcry, and archaeologists hope the trial will send a stern warning that such plundering of the world’s common heritage will not go unpunished.
During an interview with ICC investigators in early September last year, Mahdi said he chose to destroy the mausoleums drawing the largest numbers of Muslim worshippers, a witness said Tuesday.
The ICC has heard how jihadists including Mahdi regarded worshipping at the shrines as idolatrous, according to their strict interpretation under Sharia law.
“He said he selected cemeteries based on where most ... ‘transgressions’ had taken place ... for them to be the best examples,” said the witness whose voice and identity was masked.
“They decided to start in the North and move to the South,” added the witness, who conducted an interview with Mahdi in Niger after he was arrested.