THE HAGUE: International Criminal Court judges on Friday made public an arrest warrant for one of the Sahel’s top militant leaders over alleged atrocities in the fabled Malian city of Timbuktu from 2012 to 2013.
Iyad Ag Ghaly, age not given, is said to be the undisputed leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which operates in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
The JNIM is accused of numerous attacks against national forces and atrocities against civilian populations.
Ag Ghaly previously led the Ansar Dine militant group that invaded the city known as the “Pearl of the Desert” more than a decade ago.
Also known as “Abou Fadl,” Ag Ghaly is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Timbuktu, the ICC said.
These included murder, rape and sexual slavery and attacks on buildings dedicated as religious and historic monuments.
Judges issued the warrant against Ag Ghaly in mid-2017, but the document has been kept under wraps for the past seven years because of “potential risks to witnesses and victims.”
The ICC “at the request of the Prosecutor, made public an arrest warrant against Iyad Ag Ghaly for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in northern Mali between January 2012 and January 2013,” the Hague-based tribunal said in a statement.
“Mr Ghaly is not detained by the ICC,” the court said.
Ansar Dine occupied Timbuktu in 2012, taking pickaxes to 14 of the city’s famous mausoleums of Muslim saints. The group also conducted a reign of terror among the local population.
Ag Ghaly is a veteran of Mali’s internecine conflicts.
An ethnic Tuareg from northern Mali, he first leapt onto the stage during a Tuareg rebellion in the 1990s.
After it subsided, he went into business, before publicly returning to militancy again in 2012, with the newly created group called Ansar Dine.
That year, Tuareg separatists launched a rebellion in northern Mali, which was quickly commandeered by militants.
The event triggered a bloody conflict, which has now spread to the center of the country, and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Opening its doors in 2002, the ICC is the only independent court that investigates and prosecutes the world’s worst crimes.
However, the court does not have the capacity to apprehend suspects and relies on member states to carry out arrests.
ICC unveils arrest warrant for top Sahel militant leader
https://arab.news/be97m
ICC unveils arrest warrant for top Sahel militant leader
- Iyad Ag Ghaly is said to be the undisputed leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, which operates in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger
- Ag Ghaly previously led the Ansar Dine militant group that invaded the city known as the “Pearl of the Desert” more than a decade ago
India to provide $450 million to cyclone-ravaged Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: India has committed $450 million in humanitarian assistance to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastating damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Tuesday on a visit to the country.
The cyclone killed more than 640 people when it swept across the South Asian island last month, causing floods and landslides that inflicted about $4 billion in damage, according to the World Bank, or 4 percent of the country’s GDP.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has described the storm, which affected more than two million people, as the most challenging natural disaster in the island’s history.
Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit, told a media briefing in Colombo he had handed a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dissanayake, committing to a “reconstruction package of $450 million.”
While $350 million will take the form of “concessional lines of credit,” the remaining $100 million will be given as grants.
Jaishankar also noted the 1,100 tons of relief material, along with medicine and other necessary equipment, sent to India’s southern neighbor in the cyclone’s immediate aftermath.
“Given the scale of damage, restoring connectivity was clearly an immediate priority,” he said, detailing the Indian military’s assistance in providing portable bridges.
Jaishankar said India would also look at other ways to mitigate the losses, including encouraging Indian tourism to Sri Lanka.
“Similarly, an increase in foreign direct investment from India can boost your economy at a critical time,” he added.
The cyclone struck as Sri Lanka was emerging from its worst-ever economic meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of foreign exchange reserves to pay for essential imports such as food, fuel and medicines.
Following a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund approved in early 2023, the country’s economy has stabilized.
str-abh/cwl
