Sufi Shrines Destroyed in Libya

Libyan Islamist hardliners use a bulldozer to raze the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman near the centre of Tripoli on Aug 25. Islamist hardliners bulldozed part of the revered mausoleum in Tripoli in the second such attack in Libya in two day. (Mahmud Turkia/AFP/GettyImages)

Libyan officials expressed dismay after Sufi Muslim shrines were partially destroyed by militants over the weekend.

The shrines that have been bulldozed include a mosque containing Sufi graves in Tripoli and the tomb of Abdel Salam al-Asmar, a 15th-century Muslim scholar, in Zlitan.

Mohamed al-Magariaf, the head of the newly elected National Congress, held a meeting with the prime minister 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 Al Jazeera Saturday night.

Magariaf termed the shrines’ destruction as “unacceptable” and said those who were responsible would be prosecuted, The Associated Press reported.

Ultraconservative Muslims were to blame for the attacks but it was not clear who was responsible.

“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,” an unnamed government official told Reuters.