Sunday, August 26, 2012

Salafi Libyans on a rampage

"A shrine in the Libyan capital Tripoli venerating a Sufi Muslim saint has been partly destroyed - the latest in a series of attacks blamed on ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists. Tripoli residents said men with bulldozers attacked the shrine of al-Shaab al-Dahmani, unimpeded by police. The attack came a day after hardliners were accused of damaging the tomb of a Sufi scholar in the city of Zlitan. People in Tripoli say they saw bulldozers destroy part of the al-Shaab al-Dahmani mosque and Sufi shrine. One, a student named Abdurrahman, told the BBC: "There's a large group of Salafists - they are the one with the bulldozers, and some military police are also present. "They seem to be overseeing the process, rather than preventing it ... There are some bystanders who seem to approve".  He said the Salafists were also handing out pamphlets issued by a Saudi Arabian mufti from the hardline Wahhabi school of Islam." (thanks Basim)