Massive damage to major sufi shrine follows fatal Zliten clashes-- Sadly, these kinds of incidents appear to be multiplying in the past days despite the general feeling of good will that has prevailed since the elections and the widespread trust for the GNC and the cooperation/ reconciliation of Islamist and so-called 'Liberal' political blocs.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 in the town, some 90 kilometres east of Tripoli. The violence started earlier in the week and according to government officials has left at least three people dead and eight more injured. The conflict is between Zlitenis and, reportedly, members of the small Awlad Al-Shaikh tribe who live in the area.Although very small in number, Salafists have been trying to impose their view, by force if necessary, that such places are un-Islamic. There have been a number of attacks or attempted attacks on Sufi shrines throughout the country. In October last year, the mosque at Sidi Masri was vandalized and the remains of two Muslim scholars, Abdul-Rahman Al-Masri and Salem Abu Seif, removed. The same month, the cemetery in Gargaresh was ransacked while, in November, Tripoli’s Sidi Nasr mosque was similarly desecrated.At the beginning of last month, a bomb exploded at the Sahaba Mosque in Derna destroying the tomb housing the grave of Zuhayr Ibn Qais Al-Balawi, a seventh century Arab commander who helped bring Islam to the region. Salafists again were blamed. As in the case of the Zliten attack, the grave itself was not destroyed and the tomb is to be rebuilt.
Massive Damage to Major Sufi Shrine Follows Fatal Zliten Clashes