Malian jihadist begs forgiveness for Timbuktu attacks
AFP
AFP, THE HAGUE: A Malian jihadist sought forgiveness as he pleaded guilty Monday 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 honour, 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 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 Timbuktus 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, Timbuktus 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 kilometres (600 miles) northeast of Bamako, along with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Mahdi told the tribunal, based in The Hague, that he regretted the damage he had caused and was really sorry.
