By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli, 19 October 2014:
Vandals this morning attacked yet another mosque in Tripoli – the Ottoman-era mosque in Shara Mizran – destroying tombs in the precincts and smashing walls and decorative marble panels.
The culprits are believed to the same militant Salfists who have desecrated Karamali, Darghouth and Shaib Al-Ain mosques and the Othman Pasha Madrassa in the Old City this month. The Shara Mizran mosque, built in the 18th century but restored in the 1960s, originally served a small village outside the walls of Tripoli. Like many other mosques in the capital, it has a Sufist tradition – despised by Salafists. These are thought to be connected to extremist elements in Libya Dawn.
Meanwhile, a second attempt was made--possibly by the same group as before--to vandalise the Darghouth Mosque in Tripoli's Old City. Young men from the area, put in charge of protecting the mosque, succeeded in warding off the attackers, but only after they had done some minor damage to the structure and its grounds.
The attacks against the historic monuments have been condemned by the Council of Ulema, the Ministry of the Interior in Omar Al-Hassi's anti-government and by UNESCO, but not so far by the Grand Mufti, Sheikh Sadik Al-Ghariani.
