By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 17 June 2014:
Vandals are smashing up historic sites and defacing ancient paintings in an apparently mindless campaign that is not . . .[restrict]only wrecking the country’s rich heritage, but threatens future tourism business.
The Ministry of Tourism has condemned the destruction, which even extends to unmanned tourist offices.
It is not generally appreciated that Libya boasts the largest concentration of historic Greek sites in the world, more even, than Greece itself . The eastern town of Shahat, home to many of Cyrene’s stunning Greek remains has suffered greatly at the hands of antiquities smugglers, as well as vandals.
Beautiful statues have been decapitated and forests have been burned down in the ancient Greek city designated by the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) as a priceless World Heritage site.
Historic buildings all along the coast, as well as ancient paintings found in the caves of southwestern Libya have been spray-painted with graffiti.
A deeply concerned tourism ministry has urged Libyans to take responsibility for the protection of these sites. One day, when safety is restored in Libya, these unique places will be very important to Libya’s tourism industry, the Ministry said. It is proposing an “Honour Treaty” which locals along with their municipalities and civil society groups will sign, recognising the importance of these “exquisite national treasures” and promising to protect them.
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