Interesting Article: "Libyan mob’s desecration of British and Canadian war cemetery ‘absolutely appalling’" by Stephanie Findlay
An interesting article mentioned that At Benghazi war cemetery, in Libya's east, where 48 Australian World War II Diggers are buried, armed extremists desecrated 198 graves and took to the Cross of Remembrance with a sledgehammer. Would you like to know more?
For 70 years the deceased Canadian soldier lay, as he should, undisturbed. Then in a shocking breach of international custom, his grave in Benghazi, Libya was smashed to pieces by vandals. The Canadian is among the dead servicemen at the centre of an international outcry after hundreds of headstones of World War II soldiers from the Commonwealth were desecrated by a Libyan mob, apparently in retaliation to the burning of the Qur’an by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan last month.
The Federal Government could not yesterday confirm early reports that one of the destroyed graves bore the Australian Imperial Forces inscription. More than 1000 British, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Indian troops who fought the north African desert battles of World War II are buried at the site and security has since been stepped up.
Local reports say the group were Islamists angered by the burning of Koran at a NATO military base in Afghanistan, which the US has since described as an accident. Libya's transitional government had apologized over the desecration, making it clear the attack was not consistent with Islam.
Vivid footage posted on the internet shows a crowd of men casually kicking and smashing lines of neat white headstones at the main Commonwealth War Graves in Benghazi. Around 150 memorials were systematically overturned, many of them shattered, while a sandstone cross was smashed with sledge hammers. The cemetery outside the Libyan second city, the headquarters of anti-Gaddafi forces during last year’s revolution, is the final resting place of more than 1,200 soldiers and airmen who died serving under Montgomery in the war in the desert. (Many of them were members of the 7th Armored Division, the Desert Rats, who helped turn the tide of the war in their struggle for control of north Africa against Rommel’s forces between 1941 and 1943).
The vandalism, last week, is thought to be part of a wave of attacks on western targets across the Islamic world in apparent retaliation for the burning of Korans at an American military base in Afghanistan. It is suspected that members of a Salifist militia, followers of an ultra-purist interpretation of Islam already responsible for destroying several tombs to Muslim holy men in Libya, were behind it. The transitional Libyan government has apologized and pledged to bring those responsible to justice.
The footage shows a crowd of young men wearing scarves, many of them in military-style fatigues with rifles slung over their shoulders, making their way along the rows at the cemetery kicking and wrenching headstones from their footings. A voice behind the camera can be heard casually muttering “Allahu akbar” – meaning God is Great – as each headstone is dislodged.
This is Libya's first step in a long descent towards radicalism, the Taliban, at the height of their power, destroyed two huge buddhist statues (Buddhas of Bamiyan) in Afghanistan that were built hundreds of years a go (6th century). The statues were built in 507 AD, the larger in 554 AD. Let us see where this is heading!
References:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/libya-looks-for-a-motive-behind-attack-on-war-graves/story-fn7x8me2-1226289832018
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9122193/Families-outrage-at-Libya-war-graves-desecration.html
An interesting article mentioned that At Benghazi war cemetery, in Libya's east, where 48 Australian World War II Diggers are buried, armed extremists desecrated 198 graves and took to the Cross of Remembrance with a sledgehammer. Would you like to know more?
For 70 years the deceased Canadian soldier lay, as he should, undisturbed. Then in a shocking breach of international custom, his grave in Benghazi, Libya was smashed to pieces by vandals. The Canadian is among the dead servicemen at the centre of an international outcry after hundreds of headstones of World War II soldiers from the Commonwealth were desecrated by a Libyan mob, apparently in retaliation to the burning of the Qur’an by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan last month.
The Federal Government could not yesterday confirm early reports that one of the destroyed graves bore the Australian Imperial Forces inscription. More than 1000 British, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Indian troops who fought the north African desert battles of World War II are buried at the site and security has since been stepped up.
Local reports say the group were Islamists angered by the burning of Koran at a NATO military base in Afghanistan, which the US has since described as an accident. Libya's transitional government had apologized over the desecration, making it clear the attack was not consistent with Islam.
Vivid footage posted on the internet shows a crowd of men casually kicking and smashing lines of neat white headstones at the main Commonwealth War Graves in Benghazi. Around 150 memorials were systematically overturned, many of them shattered, while a sandstone cross was smashed with sledge hammers. The cemetery outside the Libyan second city, the headquarters of anti-Gaddafi forces during last year’s revolution, is the final resting place of more than 1,200 soldiers and airmen who died serving under Montgomery in the war in the desert. (Many of them were members of the 7th Armored Division, the Desert Rats, who helped turn the tide of the war in their struggle for control of north Africa against Rommel’s forces between 1941 and 1943).
The vandalism, last week, is thought to be part of a wave of attacks on western targets across the Islamic world in apparent retaliation for the burning of Korans at an American military base in Afghanistan. It is suspected that members of a Salifist militia, followers of an ultra-purist interpretation of Islam already responsible for destroying several tombs to Muslim holy men in Libya, were behind it. The transitional Libyan government has apologized and pledged to bring those responsible to justice.
The footage shows a crowd of young men wearing scarves, many of them in military-style fatigues with rifles slung over their shoulders, making their way along the rows at the cemetery kicking and wrenching headstones from their footings. A voice behind the camera can be heard casually muttering “Allahu akbar” – meaning God is Great – as each headstone is dislodged.
This is Libya's first step in a long descent towards radicalism, the Taliban, at the height of their power, destroyed two huge buddhist statues (Buddhas of Bamiyan) in Afghanistan that were built hundreds of years a go (6th century). The statues were built in 507 AD, the larger in 554 AD. Let us see where this is heading!
References:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/libya-looks-for-a-motive-behind-attack-on-war-graves/story-fn7x8me2-1226289832018
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9122193/Families-outrage-at-Libya-war-graves-desecration.html
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