By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 10 November 2013:
A service of remembrance was held this morning at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in central . . .[restrict]Tripoli to honour all those who had lost their lives during the wars.
Representatives from most diplomatic missions in Libya, led by those who lost soldiers during the Second World War in Libya, as well as a representative of the Libyan government, laid poppy wreaths at the memorial cross at an event sometimes referred to as Poppy or Armistice Day.
The red remembrance poppy has become a symbol of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields”. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders, Belgium in World War I, with their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.
At the event held on a blue-sky sunny day and attended by nearly 200 people, multi-denomination prayers were read out by various clergy, a two minute silence was observed, the Last Post was sounded and a Lament was played on the bagpipes in remembrance of those who had died during the wars.
Linking the event to Libya, the German ambassador, Christian Much said in a press statement that the event “not only commemorate (s) these soldiers because they lost their lives, but also because they were deprived of the chance to live a better future in the decades after the war: Former enemies became close friends, united in their desire to jointly build a peaceful and free world”.
“For this reason I ask all Libyan men and women: end the violence which too often is leading to the death of innocent people. Regardless of all current differences, the Libyan generations to come need to have the chance to experience a common future of freedom, security, reconciliation and prosperity. I congratulate the many Libyans who are working already today toward this end in a peaceful and democratic manner. “
[/restrict]
