Militant leader found guilty of war crimes

An international court found an Islamist militant leader guilty of war crimes Tuesday for the destruction of historical sites in the ancient city of Timbuktu, marking the first such prosecution by the tribunal as it expands the definition of abuses during conflict.

The decision by the International Criminal Court also could lay the foundation for possible future cases against groups such as the Islamic State for ravaging cultural heritage such as the 1,400year-old St. Elijah monastery in northern Iraq and the nearly 2,000-year-old ruins at Palmyra in Syria.

The former militant, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, had admitted ordering the attacks in 2012 when a faction linked to al-Qaida, Ansar Dine, held control of the famed city of Timbuktu in central Mali, which was a center of scholarship, commerce and study of the Sufi branch of Islam during the city’s golden age beginning seven centuries ago.