The International Criminal Court (ICC) published an arrest warrant on Friday against Iyad Ag Ghaly, the alleged leader of the Ansar Dine Islamist group which took over Timbuktu in northern Mali in 2012.
Ghaly, also known as Abou Fadl, is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity between January 2012 and January 2013, the court said. The arrest warrant against him was issued in 2017 under seal but made public only on Friday.
After Ansar Dine took over Timbuktu, it tried to impose sharia law. In previous ICC cases of other Ansar Dine members, prosecutors said the group had subjected women in Timbuktu to rape and sexual slavery.
The al Qaeda-linked fighters also used pick-axes, shovels and hammers to shatter earthen tombs and centuries-old shrines reflecting Timbuktu's Sufi version of Islam in what is known as the "City of 333 Saints".
The ICC, the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, has been examining events in Mali since 2012.
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