ICC pretrial hearing postponed in Timbuktu destruction case
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A judge at the International Criminal Court has postponed a crucial pretrial hearing for an alleged Islamic radical charged with involvement in the 2012 destruction of historic mausoleums and a mosque in Timbuktu.
Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, who was sent to the court in September, had been due to attend a hearing starting Jan. 18 at which judges were to assess whether evidence against him is strong enough to merit a trial. The hearing was postponed Wednesday until March 1 to give his defense more time to prepare.
Al Mahdi is the first suspect in the court's custody charged with the war crime of deliberately attacking religious or historical monuments.
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Islamic radicals overran the Malian city in 2012 and destroyed 14 of Timbuktu's 16 World Heritage-listed mausoleums.