Americas

Americas

U.S. urges Tunisia to protect religious sites

06 February 2013 01:28 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United States on Tuesday urged the Tunisian government to act to better protect the country 's religious and historic sites, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland made the appeal in response to a recent wave of attacks on Sufi mausoleums blamed on ultra-conservative Salafist Muslims in Tunisia.

"The United States is concerned by reports of continuing attacks against mausoleums throughout Tunisia," said Nuland at a regular news briefing.

"We condemn all attacks against religious sites and support the call of Tunisian citizens and political leaders who've demanded a full investigation into the causes of these attacks which have damaged and destroyed valuable parts of Tunisia's rich cultural patrimony," she said, calling on the Tunisian government "to implement its own proposed action plan to improve the protection of all Tunisia's important and diverse religious and historical sites."

The Culture Ministry of Tunisia described the ongoing attacks on mausoleums and shrines of saints in the country as part of "a methodical plan" to destroy "collective memory," as about 40 sites have been either burnt or partially destroyed since the North African nation was plunged into turmoil in early 2011.