By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli, 6 June 2015:
A bomb is reported to have been found this afternoon at the ruined Roman city of . . .[restrict]Leptis Magna and defused. Confirming the news, the head of the Department of Antiquities Ahmed Abdulkarim, based in Beida, told the Libya Herald that he had just been informed and that all he knew so far was that the device had been found “in a temple”.
There are several temples in Leptis Magna as well as other buildings that are sometimes described as such, notably the majestic Severan Basilica (above) with its magnificent carvings.
An official at Leptis is quoted saying that the device contained 40 kilos of explosives and that had it gone off it would have destroyed the building.
Leptis Magna, home of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (145 – 211) just outside Khoms, together with Sabratha and Cyrene are classified by UNESCO as world heritage sites.
There have been growing fears that militant Islamists might attack Libya’s archaeological treasures.
It is not known who planted the bomb, but Islamist militants are suspected,
“There is a great risk to our heritage from IS,” Abdulkarim said in a recent interview with this newspaper. The danger was in the west of the country, he noted. “The authorities in Tripoli don’t care [about the heritage]” he declared. As a result, “we have serious concerns about Leptis, Sabratha and for the museum in Tripoli”.
Locals from Khoms have set up an armed volunteer force to protect Leptis, of which locals are very proud and it is thought that a member found the bomb. But protecting the ruins from a determined IS attack is probably beyond their capacity.
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