Libyan Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali said on Tuesday he was withdrawing his resignation announced Sunday amid criticism over a surge of violence, including destructions of shrines. “When I submitted my resignation, I thought I would be relieving many people. But it seems that my resignation will further complicate security and I have decided to withdraw it,” Abdelali told a news conference in Tripoli. Abdelali had resigned after coming under fire for the performance of security forces during a surge of violence that has rocked Libya, including attacks by Islamist hardliners on shrines across the country. The criticism has been led by the newly elected General National Congress, which on Sunday accused the interior ministry's High Security Committee of being lax or even implicated in the destruction of shrines, including those of the Sufi sect. Islamist hardliners on Saturday bulldozed part of the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman, close to the center of the Libyan capital. The demolition came a day after hardliners blew up the mausoleum of Sheikh Abdessalem al-Asmar in Zliten, 160 kilometers east of the capital. According to witnesses another mausoleum, that of Sheikh Ahmed al-Zarruq, had been destroyed in the port of Misrata, 200 kilometers east of Tripoli.
