Mali jihadist ‘sorry’ for Timbuktu war crimes
Print Edition
A Malian jihadist sought forgiveness as he pleaded guilty yesterday to the 2012 attacks on the fabled city of Timbuktu, and urged Muslims not to follow such “evil” ways at his unprecedented war crimes trial.
“Your honor, regrettably I have to say that what I heard so far is accurate and reflects the events. I plead guilty,” Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi said, becoming the first person to confess to the International Criminal Court, admitting the solo war crimes charge of cultural destruction.
Mahdi, aged about 40, is also the first Islamic extremist charged by the ICC, and the first charged with crimes arising out of the conflict in Mali.
The razing of the ancient shrines by jihadists triggered a global outcry, and archaeologists hope the trial will send a stern warning that such plundering of our common heritage will not go unpunished.
The bespectacled Mahdi is accused of “intentionally directing attacks” against nine of Timbuktu’s famous mausoleums as well as the Sidi Yahia mosque between June 30 and July 11, 2012.
Founded between the fifth and the 12th centuries by Tuareg tribes, Timbuktu’s very name evokes centuries of history and has been dubbed “the city of 333 saints” for the number of Muslim sages buried there.
Revered as a centre of Islamic learning during its golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries and a designated UNESCO world heritage site, Timbuktu was however condemned as idolatrous by the jihadists.
ICC prosecutors allege that Mahdi was a member of Ansar Dine, a mainly Tuareg movement that in 2012 took control of Timbuktu some 1,000 kilometers northeast of Bamako, along with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
Mahdi told the tribunal, based in The Hague, that he regretted the damage he had caused and was “really sorry.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
