Libyan activists and civil society groups on Monday urged the newly-elected parliament to intervene to protect the national heritage after Islamist hard-liners destroyed shrines across the country. In a letter addressed to the General National Congress and its speaker, Mohamed al-Megarief, 17 groups also called for the recent attacks to be investigated.
"Action must be taken before these criminals cause any further harm or damage to our heritage and our people," said the statement signed by 17 groups, including Lawyers for Justice in Libya and Women4Libya. "We plead with you to act now to protect our heritage," they said.
Several Muslim shrines have been attacked in recent days, including those of the mystic Sufi strand of Islam. Islamist hard-liners on Saturday bulldozed part of the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman, close to the centre of the Libyan capital. The demolition came a day after hard-liners blew up the mausoleum of Sheikh Abdessalem al-Asmar in Zliten, 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of the capital.
According to witnesses, another mausoleum - that of Sheikh Ahmed al-Zarruq - wa destroyed in the port of Misrata, 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of Tripoli. Hard-line Sunni Islamists are implacably opposed to the veneration of tombs of revered Muslim figures, saying that such devotion should be reserved for God alone. The Sufis, who have played a historical role in the affairs of Libya, have increasingly found themselves in conflict with Qatari- and Saudi-trained Salafist preachers who consider them heretical.
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