The Chairman of the Culture Authority at Al-Thanni-chaired eastern government, Khalid Najim, has now hailed the seizure of literary and cultural books in Al-Marj town, days after condemning it.
“I highly thank and appreciate Al-Marj Security Directorate for confiscating the books. It was a legal procedure because the books had no entry permit into the country.” Najim told Dubai-based Alarabiya channel on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Najim deplored the seizure, saying in his official Facebook account “I truly decry the confiscation of books and consider it a blatant violation of the freedom of thought.”
On Facebook , Al-Marj Security Directorate displayed a footage of the seized books on Saturday in which a group of Salafists working for Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Authority claimed that the books advocate for Shiism, moral laxity, Sufism, secularism, and perversion. The footage was deleted from the page two days later.
Sources claimed that Najim had to withdraw his condemnation over security fears for his life. East Libya’s Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Authority is controlled by a Salafist movement called Madkhalism. The movement also has an armed group fighting alongside Khalifa Haftar’s forces in Benghazi.