http://www.libyaherald.com/?p=13187
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TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Attackers bulldozed a mosque containing Sufi Muslim graves in the center of Tripoli in broad daylight on Saturday, in what appeared to be Libya's most blatant sectarian attack since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
Government officials condemned the demolition of the large Sha'ab mosque and blamed an armed group who, they said, considered its graves and shrines to Sufi figures un-Islamic.It was the second razing of a Sufi site in two days. Ultra-conservative Islamists wrecked Sufi shrines with bombs and another bulldozer and set fire to a mosque library in the city of Zlitan in the early hours of Friday, an official said.
Libya's rulers have struggled to control armed groups who are competing for power in the north African country a year after Gaddafi's fall.
The president of Libya's newly elected National Congress, Mohamed al-Magariaf, called the prime minister to an emergency meeting on Sunday.
"What is truly regrettable and suspicious is that some of those who took part in these destruction activities are supposed to be of the security forces and from the revolutionaries," Magariaf told reporters on Saturday night.
He did not elaborate on how security forces took part.
A Reuters reporter saw the bulldozer level the Sha'ab mosque as police surrounded the site and prevented people from approaching and did not stop the demolition.
Inside the mosque, empty graves lay gaping in the rubble.
"A large number of armed militias carrying medium and heavy weapons arrived at the al-Sha'ab mosque with the intention to destroy the mosque because of their belief graves are anti-Islamic," said a government official who declined to be named.He told Reuters that authorities tried to stop them but, after a small clash, decided to seal off the area while the demolition took place to prevent any violence spreading.
"The SSC (Libya's Supreme Security Council) joins the ... condemnation," said council spokesman Abdel Moneim al-Hurr.
A man who appeared to be overseeing the demolition told Reuters the interior ministry had authorized the operation after discovering people had been worshipping the graves and practicing "black magic". The ministry was not available for comment.
EMBOLDENED
One of Libya's highest-profile cultural clashes since the toppling of Gaddafi has been between followers of the mystical Sufi tradition and ultra-conservative Salafis, who say Islam should return to the simple ways followed by its prophet.
Salafis have formed a number of armed brigades in Libya. They reject as idolatrous many Sufi devotions - which include dancing and the building of shrines to venerated figures.
Conservative Muslims across the region - emboldened by the Arab Spring revolts - have targeted Sufi sites in Egypt, Mali and other parts of Libya over the past year.
The assaults recalled the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of two 6th-century statues of Buddha carved into a cliff in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.
The Sha'ab mosque housed close to 50 Sufi graves inside and, outside, the tombs of Libyan Sufi scholar Abdullah al-Sha'ab and a martyr who fought Spanish colonialists.
On Friday attackers razed the revered resting place of Abdel Salam al-Asmar in Zlitan, about 160 km (90 miles) west of the capital, and also set fire to a historic library in a nearby mosque, ruining thousands of books.The destruction followed two days of clashes between tribal groups in Zlitan, said a local official.
"The extremist Salafis took advantage (of the fact) that security officials were busy calming down the clashes and they desecrated the shrine," Zlitan military council official Omar Ali told Reuters.
Sufi scholar and caretaker of the Asmar shrine in Zlitan Mohammed Salem said the government was coming under increasing political pressure from ultra-conservatives.
A Facebook page titled "Together for the Removal of the Abdel Salam al-Asmar Shrine" congratulated supporters on the "successful removal of the Asmar shrine, the largest sign of idolatry in Libya."
Home » Archives by category » Libya
Justice Minister adds further confusion to Saif trial debate
By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab.
Tripoli, 25 August:
The Minister of Justice has told the Libya Herald that the trial of Saif Qaddafi will be held next month, but insisted that suggestions it will take place in Zintan are unfounded.
“The trial of Saif Qaddafi will take place in the second half of September”, Ali Ashour Ehmida said.
“The location of the trial has not yet been decided, and the circulating news suggesting it will be held in Zintan is unfounded. Investigations and collation of evidence will continue until the day of the trial”.
He did not confirm whether or not the International Criminal Court would be involved in proceedings.
The intervention by the justice minister has thrown added uncertainty onto both the timing and the location of the trial, as well as the question of whether or not the ICC will have a role.
Over the past week there have been no fewer than five interventions from various sections of Libya’s judicial and political leadership on the matter.
Thus far, the office of the prosecutor-general has suggested the trial will take place next month, in Zintan, and without the involvement of the ICC.
The Libyan representative to the International Criminal Court has also said the trial would take place next month, but has not been definitive on either the location or ICC involvement.
Meanwhile both the deputy prime minister and the speaker of the National Congress have insisted that no decision has been made on any of the above three issues.
The ICC has thus far declined to offer comment, except to say that it is aware of the reports and that it has yet to be formally contacted by the Libyan authorities.
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Fighters bulldoze Sufi mosque in central Tripoli
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TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Attackers bulldozed a mosque containing Sufi Muslim graves in the center of Tripoli in broad daylight on Saturday, in what appeared to be Libya's most blatant sectarian attack since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
Government officials condemned the demolition of the large Sha'ab mosque and blamed an armed group who, they said, considered its graves and shrines to Sufi figures un-Islamic.It was the second razing of a Sufi site in two days. Ultra-conservative Islamists wrecked Sufi shrines with bombs and another bulldozer and set fire to a mosque library in the city of Zlitan in the early hours of Friday, an official said.
Libya's rulers have struggled to control armed groups who are competing for power in the north African country a year after Gaddafi's fall.
The president of Libya's newly elected National Congress, Mohamed al-Magariaf, called the prime minister to an emergency meeting on Sunday.
"What is truly regrettable and suspicious is that some of those who took part in these destruction activities are supposed to be of the security forces and from the revolutionaries," Magariaf told reporters on Saturday night.
He did not elaborate on how security forces took part.
A Reuters reporter saw the bulldozer level the Sha'ab mosque as police surrounded the site and prevented people from approaching and did not stop the demolition.
Inside the mosque, empty graves lay gaping in the rubble.
"A large number of armed militias carrying medium and heavy weapons arrived at the al-Sha'ab mosque with the intention to destroy the mosque because of their belief graves are anti-Islamic," said a government official who declined to be named.He told Reuters that authorities tried to stop them but, after a small clash, decided to seal off the area while the demolition took place to prevent any violence spreading.
"The SSC (Libya's Supreme Security Council) joins the ... condemnation," said council spokesman Abdel Moneim al-Hurr.
A man who appeared to be overseeing the demolition told Reuters the interior ministry had authorized the operation after discovering people had been worshipping the graves and practicing "black magic". The ministry was not available for comment.
EMBOLDENED
One of Libya's highest-profile cultural clashes since the toppling of Gaddafi has been between followers of the mystical Sufi tradition and ultra-conservative Salafis, who say Islam should return to the simple ways followed by its prophet.
Salafis have formed a number of armed brigades in Libya. They reject as idolatrous many Sufi devotions - which include dancing and the building of shrines to venerated figures.
Conservative Muslims across the region - emboldened by the Arab Spring revolts - have targeted Sufi sites in Egypt, Mali and other parts of Libya over the past year.
The assaults recalled the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of two 6th-century statues of Buddha carved into a cliff in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.
The Sha'ab mosque housed close to 50 Sufi graves inside and, outside, the tombs of Libyan Sufi scholar Abdullah al-Sha'ab and a martyr who fought Spanish colonialists.
On Friday attackers razed the revered resting place of Abdel Salam al-Asmar in Zlitan, about 160 km (90 miles) west of the capital, and also set fire to a historic library in a nearby mosque, ruining thousands of books.The destruction followed two days of clashes between tribal groups in Zlitan, said a local official.
"The extremist Salafis took advantage (of the fact) that security officials were busy calming down the clashes and they desecrated the shrine," Zlitan military council official Omar Ali told Reuters.
Sufi scholar and caretaker of the Asmar shrine in Zlitan Mohammed Salem said the government was coming under increasing political pressure from ultra-conservatives.
A Facebook page titled "Together for the Removal of the Abdel Salam al-Asmar Shrine" congratulated supporters on the "successful removal of the Asmar shrine, the largest sign of idolatry in Libya."
Three journalists arrested by SSC over Tripoli shrine desecration coverage
Tripoli, 25 August: Three journalists from the Al-Assema television station were detained by the Supreme Security Committee this afternoon in relation to their coverage of the destruction of…
National Congress summons PM, Defence Minister and Interior Minister for questioning over shrine desecrations
By George Grant. Tripoli, 25 August: The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence and the Interior Minister are to be questioned by the National Congress tomorrow morning over…
Security personnel out in force as Magarief announces emergency session
By Al Russell. Tripoli, 25 August: Tripoli’s famous Gazelle roundabout is under heavy guard this evening, amid rumours of an attempt to destroy its statue. The artwork, which…
Home » Archives by category » Libya
Libyan authorities admit security units penetrated by Qaddafi supporters
By Sami Zaptia. Tripoli, 25 August: Libyan security officials were forced late on Thursday to admit that many official security units are penetrated by supporters of the former regime. In…
Tripoli’s Al-Sha’ab shrine demolished
By Al Russell. Tripoli, 25 August: The Al-Sha’ab suffi shrine, opposite the Radisson Blu Hotel in central Tripoli, is currently being demolished by heavy machinery, under the protection of security…
Another Sufi mosque attacked
By Hadi Fornaji. Tripoli, 25 August: Another mosque has been vandalised by Salafists. The Sidi Sha’ab Mosque opposite the Mahari Radisson Blu hotel overlooking Tripoli harbour was attacked around dawn…
Ministry of Interior condemns Eid car bombs as ‘cowardly and terrorist’
By Sami Zaptia. Tripoli, 25 August: At a press conference called late on Thursday evening, the Under Secretary for the Ministry of Interior Omar Khadrawi condemned the Eid…
Protestors at GNC call for security improvements
Tripoli, 25 August: A demonstration took place on Thursday morning outside the headquarters of the General National Congress (GNC) at Ghabat An-Nasr in Tripoli. The protestors, members of various civil…
Qaddafi diplomats expelled by Canada now claim asylum there
Tripoli, 24 August: Three of five Libyan diplomats ordered out of Canada in May last year, after being declared “persona non grata”, have since claimed asylum in the…
Massive damage to major sufi shrine follows fatal Zliten clashes
By Hadi Fornaji. Tripoli, 24 August: One of Libya’s most important Sufi shrines, that of the Sidi Abdul-Salam Al-Asmar Al-Fituri in Zliten, has been massively damaged in fighting…
Magarief rebuts claims of imminent Saif trial in Zintan as “rumours and lies”
By George Grant. Tripoli, 24 August: National Congress Speaker Mohammed Magarief has dismissed claims that Saif Qaddafi will be tried next month in Zintan as “rumours and lies”.…
Qaddafi diplomats expelled by Canada now claim asylum there
Tripoli, 24 August: Three of five Libyan diplomats ordered out of Canada in May last year, after being declared “persona non grata”, have since claimed asylum in the…
Massive damage to major sufi shrine follows fatal Zliten clashes
By Hadi Fornaji. Tripoli, 24 August: One of Libya’s most important Sufi shrines, that of the Sidi Abdul-Salam Al-Asmar Al-Fituri in Zliten, has been massively damaged in fighting…
Magarief rebuts claims of imminent Saif trial in Zintan as “rumours and lies”
By George Grant. Tripoli, 24 August: National Congress Speaker Mohammed Magarief has dismissed claims that Saif Qaddafi will be tried next month in Zintan as “rumours and lies”.…
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