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Rome (AFP) Italy's government wins confidence vote</s>A war crimes court Thursday said a Malian ex-jihadist caused 2.7 million euros in damages when he destroyed Timbuktu's fabled shrines in 2012.

The International Criminal Court ordered victims be paid "individual, collective and symbolic" reparations, ICC judge Raul Pangalangan said.

But the judges at the Hague-based tribunal recognised that Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was penniless, saying it was up to the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) -- set up to implement the judge's decisions -- to decide how the outstanding amount will have to be paid.

The judges further ordered that the Malian state as well as the international community be compensated with a symbolic amount of one euro for the damages suffered.

Judges gave the TFV until February 16 next year to come up with a plan on how to implement Thursday's reparations award.

Jihadists used pickaxes and bulldozers against nine mausoleums and the centuries-old door of the Sidi Yahya mosque, built during a golden age of Islam, after a jihadist takeover in northen Mali in 2012.

Al-Mahdi was jailed for nine years in 2016 after he pleaded guilty to directing attacks on the UNESCO world heritage site and apologised to the Timbuktu community.

Timbuktu, founded by Tuareg tribes between the fifth and 12th centuries, has been nicknamed "the city of 333 saints," referring to the number of Muslim sages buried there.

The ICC's decision to jail Mahdi in September's landmark verdict was the first arising out of the conflict in Mali, and the first time a jihadist had sat in the dock.</s>An Islamic extremist found guilty of a war crime for destroying World Heritage sites in Timbuktu has been told he must pay £2.5million in reparations.

The International Criminal Court in the Netherlands today ruled that Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, a onetime member of the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group, must pay for damage to the buildings, economic losses and moral harm to victims.

Al Mahdi had intentionally directed attacks against nine saints' mausoleums and a mosque door in 2012.

At a previous hearing, Al Mahdi pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his role in leading the destruction and urged Muslims around the world not to commit similar acts.

In court, he said he had been overtaken by 'evil spirits'.

He was sentenced to nine years in jail. 



Al Mahdi led pickaxe-wielding Islamists who wrecked the simple mud-brick mausoleums covering the saints' tombs in June and July 2012 in the famed Malian city.

The sites that were attacked - all but one of them on the World Heritage list - were built during the 15th and 16th centuries at a time when Timbuktu was considered a great center of Islamic learning.

Prosecutors said Al Mahdi was a member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaeda that held power in northern Mali at the time.

Al-Qaeda-linked rebels occupied the famed Saharan city in 2012 and enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law that included destruction of the historic mud-brick mausoleums they considered idolatrous.

Al Mahdi was leader of one of the 'morality brigades' set up by Timbuktu's new rulers.

The militants were driven out after nearly a year by French forces, and those troops arrested Al Mahdi in neighboring Niger in 2014.

The court also ordered Al Mahdi to pay the symbolic sum of one euro (91p) to Mali and one euro to the international community via UNESCO, which is responsible for World Heritage site cultural listings.

While it acknowledged that the man is poor, the court called the reparations 'reasonable' and said the burden of paying would not make it impossible for him to reintegrate into society. It encouraged a trust fund set up for victims to help pay the damages.

The ICC said the destruction of cultural monuments like those in Timbuktu 'carries a message of terror and helplessness. [It] destroys part of humanity's shared memory and collective consciousness, and renders humanity unable to transmit its values and knowledge to future generations.'</s>The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered Malian radical Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi to pay €2.7m in reparations for his role in the destruction of the UNESCO world heritage site in Timbuktu in 2012.

This is the first time the court has demanded reparations for the destruction of cultural property. The ruling sends a strong message that perpetrators who target cultural heritage can be held to account.

Al Mahdi was one of the leading perpetrators in the Islamic militant group Ansar Dine. The group attacked Timbuktu in 2012, taking control of the area.

Initially, Ansar Dine banned people in the region from visiting the mausoleums of their ancestors and the saints, as this was seen as an idolatrous and superstitious practice. When visits continued, the group decided to destroy the mausoleums. The aim was partially to stop the practice of worshipping there, but also to defy the international designation of Timbuktu as a world heritage site.

A total of 14 mausoleums were destroyed along with residents’ tombs. The Sidi Yahya mosque door, which some in the area believed would remain closed until the end of days, was also destroyed.

In September 2015, Al Mahdi was arrested in Niger and transferred to the ICC in the Netherlands. In August 2016, he plead guilty to the charge of destruction of cultural property as a war crime, in exchange for a nine-year sentence. Al Mahdi has apologised for his role in the destruction of the world heritage site in Timbuktu, but the ICC requires convicted people to make reparations to the victims affected by their crimes – hence the heavy fine.

With the help of significant international funding, Timbuktu has been largely rebuilt since the attack – including the Sidi Yahya door. The reparations decision focuses on the human impact the destruction had on the community in Timbuktu.

Mny Malians in the area have a close spiritual connection to the mausoleums and the Sidi Yahya mosque. The attack by Ansar Dine not only took away their ability to worship their saints and ancestors, it also caused psychological harm. Some 139 victims applied for reparations at the ICC. They spoke of their shock and bereavement at the destruction.

The loss of the world heritage site at Timbuktu and ongoing conflict in Mali also meant that tourists and pilgrims could no longer travel to the site. That in turn led to a loss of income for the local people who act as guardians of the sites.

While the ICC recognised that the international community (represented by UNESCO and Mali) had suffered harm, it only awarded them a symbolic €1 each. Instead it focused reparations on the community in Timbuktu. The court awarded individual compensation to victims seen as most affected by the destruction. These included the guardians of the site who suffered a loss of income following the destruction, and the descendants of those whose mausoleums were destroyed who suffered mental harm.

The court also ordered collective measures to benefit the community in Timbuktu. These include community education, return and resettlement programmes for those displaced, and micro-credit grants.

There are of course difficulties ahead, too. Mali is still not a safe place, which will make it difficult for these reparations to be made. In the space of just one week, seven people, including peacekeepers, were recently killed in Timbuktu. The instability makes it difficult for the money to be put to practical use.

What’s more, Al Mahdi doesn’t have any money. That means the reparations will be delivered through the Court’s Trust Fund for Victims, which is supported by donors.

Over the past few years, cultural property has been destroyed across a number of conflicts, particularly in Syria. Islamic State targeted the UNESCO world heritage site in Palmyra, and indiscriminate fighting in cities like Homs and Aleppo has destroyed dozens of cultural property sites. The Al Mahdi case offers some hope that those responsible for this destruction can be held to account. However, given that the fighting in Syria is ongoing, such restoration and accountability may be a long way off.

Cultural property is specifically protected in international law to ensure the rich diversity of communities that in turn enriches humanity as a whole. Attacking cultural property is explicitly prohibited during times of war. The Al Mahdi case emphasises that in rebuilding sites like Timbuktu, we also need to remedy the psychological and moral harm caused to communities connected to such culture.</s>The International Criminal Court has ordered an Islamic extremist to pay $3.2 million in restitution for destroying centuries-old religious shrines in Mali.

Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was convicted by the court last year for overseeing the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque door with pickaxes and bulldozers in the ancient city of Timbuktu, when extremists briefly seized control of northern Mali in 2012.

In a landmark ruling, the court treated the destruction of the shrines as a war crime when it sentenced Al-Mahdi to nine years in prison. He was facing as many as 30 years in jail, but the court took into account his admission of guilt and expression of remorse.

The shrines date back as far as the 14th century and are listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. The U.N. agency has since restored the mausoleums.

Known as "the City of 333 Saints," Timbuktu is regarded as a center of Islamic teaching and key to the spread of Islam across the African continent.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said al-Mahdi's alleged actions amounted to "a callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations and their region and historical roots."

Then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said such acts "are a tragedy for all civilized people, and the civilized world must take a stand."</s>AMSTERDAM, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on Thursday that a former Islamist rebel who was jailed for wrecking holy sites in Timbuktu was liable for damages of 2.7 million euros ($3.2 million).

Amad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was sent to prison for nine years in 2016 after pleading guilty to war crimes for his involvement in the destruction of 10 mausoleums and religious sites in Timbuktu. The sites date from Mali's 14th-century golden age as a trading hub and centre of Sufi Islam, a branch of the religion seen as idolatrous by some hardline Muslim groups.

Because al-Mahdi is in jail and cannot afford to pay the damages, the court has asked the ICC's Trust Fund for Victims to do so. The money will go to the Timbuktu community in the form of educational programmes, economic aid schemes and possibly a memorial.

Judge Raul Pangalangan said action such as the attacks on the shrines "destroys part of humanity's shared memory and collective consciousness, and renders humanity unable to transmit its values and knowledge to future generations".

The three-strong panel of judges also said that a smaller number of individual reparations would be determined later for people whose livelihoods depended exclusively on the destroyed sites, and for direct descendants of the saints buried in the damaged tombs.

Al-Mahdi's case stems from events in 2012, when Tuareg rebels seized part of the north of Mali, imposing a strict interpretation of Islamic law. French and Malian troops pushed them back the following year.

During his trial in August last year, al-Mahdi asked for forgiveness. He said he had been swept up in the excitement by al Qaeda and the Ansar Dine Islamist groups, and that he was morally confused when he damaged the ancient sites. ($1 = 0.8519 euros) (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Andrew Bolton)</s>BRUSSELS — The International Criminal court ruled Thursday that a Muslim radical found guilty of destroying World Heritage cultural sites in the Malian city of Timbuktu must pay 2.7 million euros ($3.2 million) in reparations.

The court in the Netherlands found that Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi had intentionally directed attacks against nine mausoleums and a mosque door in 2012, and ordered him to pay for damage to the buildings, economic losses and moral harm to victims — primarily the people of Timbuktu, who depend on tourism.

At previous hearings, Al Mahdi pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his role in leading the destruction, urged Muslims around the world not to commit similar acts and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Al Mahdi led pickax-wielding rebels who wrecked the simple mud-brick mausoleums covering the saints’ tombs in June and July 2012 in the famed African city. The sites that were attacked — all but one of them on the World Heritage list — were built during the 15th and 16th centuries at a time when Timbuktu was considered a great centre of Islamic learning.

Prosecutors said Al Mahdi was a member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that held power in northern Mali at the time. The militants were driven out after nearly a year by French forces, and those troops arrested Al Mahdi in neighbouring Niger in 2014.

The court also ordered Al Mahdi to pay the symbolic sum of one euro ($1.17) to Mali and one euro to the international community via UNESCO, which is responsible for World Heritage site cultural listings.

While it acknowledged that he is poor, the court called the reparations “reasonable” and said the burden of paying would not make it impossible for him to reintegrate into society. It encouraged a trust fund set up for victims to help pay the damages.

The ICC said the destruction of cultural monuments like those in Timbuktu “carries a message of terror and helplessness. (It) destroys part of humanity’s shared memory and collective consciousness, and renders humanity unable to transmit its values and knowledge to future generations.”

This story corrects that Al-Mahdi was sentenced to nine years in prison previously, not Thursday.</s>A jihadist from Mali has been ordered to pay $3.2 million in damages for his role in destroying 14th century Timbuktu shrines in 2012 in a landmark ruling by the International Criminal Court.

Judges said that the victims of the Malian city’s destruction be compensated with “individual, collective and symbolic” reparations particularly those who relied on the sites for tourism income.

Ahmad Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi directed the attacks on nine mausoleums and a mosque door in mid-2012 with pickaxes and bulldozers. It came as Tuareg rebels captured parts of northern Mali in 2012 before being ousted by a military operation a year later.

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Mahdi pleaded guilty to the attacks and has expressed remorse for his role in them, as well as calling on other Muslims not to carry out similar actions in areas they control.

Currently serving nine years in prison, Mahdi's case is the first time someone has been convicted for cultural destruction by the ICC and pave for the way for further prosecutions related to the demolition of historic sites, such as by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in Palmyra and Mosul.

The Malian sites, most of them on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, date from the 14th century when Mali served as a center for Sufi Islam, a peaceful branch of Islam that radical Islamists view to be heretical.

Mahdi is penniless and remains in prison, so the war crime judges ruled that it is for an ICC-administration trust fund—with money contributed by public and private donors—for victims to decide how the people of Timbuktu receive their compensation.

Plans for compensation include a possible memorial, educational programs and economic aid to the affected communities. The fund has until February 16, 2018, to decide how they will spend the money.

Judge Raul Pangalangan said such an attack “destroys part of humanity's shared memory and collective consciousness, and renders humanity unable to transmit its values and knowledge to future generations,” Reuters reported.

The ruling represents only the second awarding of compensation by the court. It handed the 297 victims of former Congolese warlord symbolic damages of $250 each for his crimes in a 2003 attack that he is currently serving 12 years for.</s>A former Islamist militant who was jailed for destroying holy sites in Timbuktu is liable for damages of €2.7m (£2.5m), judges at the international criminal court (ICC) have ruled.

Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was imprisoned for nine years last year after pleading guilty to war crimes for his involvement in the destruction of 10 mausoleums and religious sites in Timbuktu in 2012.

Jihadis used pickaxes and bulldozers to attack the mausoleums and the centuries-old door of the Sidi Yahya mosque.

The sites were built during Mali’s golden age in the 14th century as a trading hub and centre of Sufism, a branch of Islam seen as idolatrous by some groups.

The assault on a world heritage site triggered global outrage, and Mahdi’s case was the first to come before the Hague-based court as a crime of cultural destruction.

Alina Balta, who works at the International Victimology Institute at Tilburg University, said Mahdi’s custodial sentence sent a strong warning that destroying cultural heritage would not go unpunished, and reparations would help “alleviate the lasting imprints” of the crime.

According to the ICC’s 1998 founding accord, the Rome statute, judges can determine that victims are entitled to reparations including “restitution, compensation and rehabilitation”.

The court can also hand out an order against a convicted person, demanding similar reparations.

However, the type and level of compensation awarded on Thursday will be scrutinised amid doubt over whether substantial funds can be secured, and the time it will take to reach victims.

The security situation in northern Mali posed serious challenges, said the Trust Fund for Victims, an agency that will implement the judges’ order.

It has also pointed to a dilemma – the risk in the future that rumours of hefty compensation could provide an incentive for similar attacks in poor countries with cultural treasures.

The reparations ruling is only the second such award handed down by the court since it began work in 2002.

In March, the ICC awarded symbolic damages of $250 to each of the 297 victims of former Congolese warlord Germain Katanga, who is serving 12 years for an attack on a village in 2003.

The court estimated the damage from the attack to be $3.7m, and found Katanga liable for $1m of that total, but it also acknowledged he was penniless.

Mahdi was a member of Ansar Dine, one of the al-Qaeda-linked jihadi groups that seized territory in northern Mali before being mostly chased out by a French-led military intervention in January 2013.

A former teacher and Islamic scholar, he was leader of the so-called Hisbah (Manners Brigade).

Mahdi pleaded guilty to the crime and apologised. He said he had been overtaken by evil spirits and urged Muslims not to follow his example.

The shrines have been restored using traditional methods and local masons, in a project financed by several countries as well as Unesco, the UN agency for education, science and culture.</s>The Hague (AFP) - War crimes judges said Thursday that a Malian jihadist was liable for 2.7 million euros in personal damages for destroying Timbuktu's fabled shrines in 2012, as they ordered reparations in a landmark ruling.

The International Criminal Court ordered that the victims of the razing of the fabled west African city's historic treasures be paid "individual, collective and symbolic" reparations.

But the judges at the tribunal in The Hague also recognised that Ahmad Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi -- jailed last September for nine years -- was penniless, saying it was now up to the Trust Fund for Victims to decide how the outstanding amount will have to be paid.

The fund was created in 2004 by the ICC's state parties, aiming to address harms resulting from genocide, crimes of humanity and war crimes.

It implements any reparations ordered by the court -- including financial payments -- and helps victims. Funding comes from public and private donors as well as court-ordered fines and forfeitures.

The fund now has until February 16 to come up with a plan for how to implement Thursday's reparations award.

Judges further ordered the Malian state and the international community be compensated with a symbolic amount of one euro each for damages suffered.

"We will talk to the victims' lawyers and we will go to Timbuktu, then we'll solicit countries and individuals to collect donations," said the fund's executive director Pieter de Baan.

Thursday's judgement was a "very symbolic and important moment for the victims," De Baan told AFP.

Jihadists used pickaxes and bulldozers against nine mausoleums and the centuries-old door of the Sidi Yahya mosque, part of a golden age of Islam after over-running northern Mali in 2012.

Timbuktu, founded by Tuareg tribes between the fifth and 12th centuries, has been nicknamed "the city of 333 saints," referring to the number of Muslim sages buried there.

During a halcyon period in the 15th and 16th century, the city was revered as a centre of Islamic learning -- but for 21st century Muslim fanatics, its moderate form of Islam was idolatrous.

The assault on the UNESCO world heritage site triggered global opprobrium, but also led to a legal precedent.

Mahdi's case was the first to come before the Hague-based ICC as a crime of cultural destruction.

He was jailed for nine years in 2016 after he pleaded guilty to directing attacks on the world heritage site and apologised to the Timbuktu community.

The destruction of the shrines carried "a message of terror and helplessness and destroyed part of humanity's shared memory and collective consciousness," judge Raul Pangalangan said.

According to the court's 1998 founding accord, the Rome Statute, judges can determine that victims are entitled to reparations including "restitution, compensation and rehabilitation."

The court can also hand out an order directly against a convicted person, demanding similar reparations.

Thursday's award will now be closely scrutinised, given concern about whether substantial funds can be secured, and the time it will take to reach victims.

Rights groups welcomed the ruling, but said it remained a "drop in the ocean" compared to all human rights abuses that have taken place in Timbuktu.

But "reparations in this case give a new hope that while not all cultural property can be restored, people and culture can rise from the ashes and debris, to continue their heritage for future generations," said Luke Moffett of the Queens' University Belfast Human Rights Centre.

The reparations will only be the second such award in the history of the court since it began work in 2002.

In March, the ICC awarded symbolic damages of $250 (212 euros) to each of the 297 victims of former Congolese warlord Germain Katanga, who is serving 12 years for a 2003 attack on a village.

The court estimated the damage caused in that attack at $3.7 million, and found Katanga liable for $1 million of that total -- but at the time also acknowledged he was penniless.

Mahdi was a member of Ansar Dine, one of the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups which seized territory in northern Mali before being mostly chased out by a French-led military intervention in January 2013.

The shrines have now been restored using traditional methods and local masons, in a project financed by several countries as well as UNESCO.
The International Criminal Court has ruled that Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is liable for about € 2.7 million in personal damages for the destruction of Timbuktu's heritage sites, and that the victims (including Mali itself and the international community) be paid "individual, collective, and symbolic" reparations. The Trust Fund for Victims is to decide until 16 February 2018 how the amount will be paid (the Court has also recognized that the penniless al-Mahdi would be unable to pay).