Libyan Islamists destroy 15th century shrine, libraryAugust 25, 2012 - 16:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - 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 on Saturday, Aug 25 the latest attacks on sites in the region branded idolatrous by some sects, Reuters reported. The attackers used bombs and a bulldozer to destroy a complex of shrines that included the tomb of Abdel Salam al-Asmar on 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. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |