UNESCO Director-General calls for an immediate halt to destruction of Sufi sites in Libya

UNESCO Director-General calls for an immediate halt to destruction of Sufi sites in Libya | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today expressed her grave concern over the destruction and desecration of Sufi shrines and libraries in Zliten, Misrata and Tripoli Libya. Ms Bokova called on the perpetrators to cease the destruction immediately. Referring to destruction at the Islamic Centre of Sheikh Abdussalam Al-Asmar in Zliten, the Mosque of SidiSha'ab in Tripoli, and at the Shrine of Sidi Ahmed Zaroug in Misrata, the Director-General said “destroying places of religious and cultural significance cannot be tolerated.” “I am deeply concerned about these brutal attacks on places of cultural and religious significance. Such acts must be halted, if Libyan society is to complete its transition to democracy. For this, we need dialogue and mutual respect. Libya’s future prospects depend on its inhabitants’ ability to build a participatory democracy that respects the rights and the heritage of all its citizens.” The Director-General urged the Libyan authorities and society at large to exercise their responsibility in protecting cultural heritage and sites of religious significance for future generations. Ms Bokova furthermore welcomed the Libyan government’s clear condemnation of the destruction of the sites and indicated that UNESCO stands ready to provide assistance to protect and rehabilitate them.

Libya Islamists destroy Sufi artifacts

Via: Al Akhbar English

Conservative Islamists blew up the tomb of a 15th century Sufi scholar and burned down a library in the Libyan city of Zlitan, a military official said Saturday, the latest attacks on sites in the region branded idolatrous by some sects. The attackers used bombs and a bulldozer to destroy a complex of shrines that included the tomb of Abdel Salam al-Asmar Friday and ruined thousands of books at the Asmari Mosque library, said witnesses and Zlitan military council official Omar Ali. Hardliners, many of them emboldened by the Arab Spring revolts, have targeted a number of sites belonging to Islam's mystical Sufi tradition in Libya, Egypt and Mali over the past year. The assaults have also recalled the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of two 6th-century statues of Buddha carved into a cliff in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan. Friday's attacks followed two days of clashes between tribal factions in Zlitan which killed two people and injured 18, according to military council counts.

"The extremist Salafis took advantage (of the fact) that security officials were busy calming down the clashes and they desecrated the shrine," Ali told Reuters, referring to conservative Muslims who see many Sufi sites as idolatrous. (Reuters)