Hague: jihadi process for destruction of historical monuments – Banker

The process Islamist Ahmad Al-Faqiego Al-Mahdi, accused in connection with the destruction of ancient tombs in Timbuktu in northern Mali began on Monday before the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The accused pleaded guilty.

 
 
 

This is the first process in which the destruction of ancient monuments,
 inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, is regarded as
 a war crime – emphasizes Reuters.

 

“Your honor, regretfully confirm that everything the now
 I heard is true and reflects events “-
 Mahdi said after hearing the charges. “I admit to the guilty
 deep grief and immense pain “- he added.
 

Then he said, that asks you to Malian nation forgave him and recognized him as the “son who strayed.”

 

Mahdi – Malian leader of the radical group Ansar Dine,
 associated with the regional organization of Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb -
 He stood before the court in connection with the suspicion that he gave orders to destroy
  ancient tombs in Timbuktu. She accused him of bringing
 the destruction of nine mausoleums of the XI-XII century and mosque of Sidi Yahia
  The fifteenth century. These objects have been demolished by the Ansar Dine due to
  professed by a group iconoclasm. In total, 14 of 16 destroyed
 burial sites.

 

Mahdi is the first jihadist judged by the ICC, and his case
 It is part of a run by the Hague tribunal investigation into the
 war crimes committed in Mali during the armed conflict in
 2012-2013.

 

Located on the River Niger Timbuktu was founded in the late eleventh and
 The twelfth century by the Tuareg. For centuries, it was a center of exchange
 trade between sub-Saharan Africa and the Berber and Islamic Africa
  Northern. It was the capital of several medieval African countries. Down
 fall of the city contributed in 1591 Morysków invasion, and in 1893 -
  French troops.

 

In 1988, Timbuktu was inscribed on the World Heritage List
 UNESCO. In the collection of public and private libraries of Timbuktu
 There were 150 thousand. manuscripts, including some of the thirteenth century, and
 a local university in the heyday of the city of science levying 25
 k. students.
 

Mali was plunged into chaos in 2012, when affiliated with Al-Qaeda
 Islamists have used a military coup in Bamako to appropriate
 Tuareg separatist rebellion and seizure desert north of the country.
 In summer 2013, Mali has been targeted UN forces to help in
 normalization of the situation in the north of the country. In Mali, there is still, however,
 acts of terror. (PAP)

 

akl / ap /