Sufi shrines attacked 'by Islamist hardliners' in Libya

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.

Hardline Salafists regard the shrines as idolatrous.

On Friday, a group attacked the tomb of 15th-Century scholar Abdel Salam al-Asmar in Zlitan, about 160km south-east of Tripoli.

Video footage showed chunks of masonry littering the floor, bullet holes pockmarking the walls and ornate Islamic tiling destroyed.

People in Tripoli say they saw bulldozers destroy part of the al-Shaab al-Dahmani mosque and Sufi shrine.

The destruction in Zlitan follows two days of clashes between rival local tribes which left at least three people dead.

Libya's Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur tweeted: "The destruction of shrines and mosques is a crime. Those who commit these crimes will be held responsible."

In November last year, the bodies of two Muslim clerics were removed from the Sidi Nasr shrine and mosque in Tripoli and reburied according to the principles of the hardline Wahabi school of Islam.

There has recently been an international outcry over the destruction of centuries-old shrines in Timbuktu, Mali.

The Sufi sites were attacked by the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group which seized the city in April.

Meanwhile, more than 100 tanks have been seized from a militia loyal to Libya's ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi as authorities hunted the perpetrators of a double car bombing,

An interior ministry official said on Thursday that an investigation into the attacks on Sunday helped in detecting the militia which posed as "revolutionaries" and was housed in barracks in Souk al-Ahad near Tarhuna, 60km southeast of Tripoli.

"More than 100 tanks and 26 missile launchers were seized" from the militia, Abdelmonem al-Hur, spokesman for the interior ministry's High Security Committee, told a news conference.

The car bombs killed two people and wounded four others in Tripoli in the dawn attacks which took place as Muslims prepared to attend prayers on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holidays.

The spokesman said that one person was killed and eight others were wounded as security forces arrested the militia's leader, Khaled Ibrahim Krid, in an operation on Wednesday.

Thirteen people were also arrested in the operation, while three others escaped.

The interior ministry had on Wednesday reported clashes between Tarhuna members of the security services and suspects allegedly involved in Sunday's blasts.

The pro-Gaddafi militia known as Katibat al-Awfiya (Brigade of the Faithful) was known internally as the "Brigade of Martyr Muammar Gaddafi," who was killed last October.