Tripoli, 21 December:
Dar Al-Ifta’, the Fatwa Office, condemned the violence that has rocked Benghazi in past weeks, calling the events “sad, painful and tragic to Libya as a whole”.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ghariani addressed all Libyans in the statement published yesterday, saying: “We remind them with their legitimate and national responsibilities that they must not expose their homeland, their city and families to risk, ruin and destruction, they must not awaken discord, which, if ignited, would leave nothing but devastation and destruction.”
Ghariani made the statement the day after a clash outside the General Security Directorate in Benghazi left a number of people dead.
It is understood that a struggle broke out between the security forces and people who had gathered outside the building in the city’s Al-Hawari district to call for the release of two prisoners who they thought were being held there.
The Mufti also spoke out against the string of attacks on security officials that have taken place in Benghazi in recent weeks, and warned against people seeking retribution “because of the bloodshed and revenge such an act might ignite and which may not be extinguished.”
Ghariani ended his statement by calling on government officials, and especially those in the Ministry of Interior, to “address the reasons that led to this violence, without dwelling at the symptoms, because treating the cause relieves the body of illness.”
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