An alleged Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militant accused of ordering the destruction of treasured monuments in Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu appeared for the first time Wednesday before judges at the International Criminal Court.

Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi appeared at an initial hearing at The Hague-based tribunal, in the first case to be brought by the ICC over the extremist violence that rocked Mali in 2012 and 2013.