The General Tourism Authority (GTA) has criticized the decision of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to place five archaeological sites in Libya on the endangered world heritage list.
The five sites included Leptis Magna in the city of Al-Khums, the ancient city of Sabratah, the city of Cyrene in Shahat, the rock art site of the Akakus Mountain in the far south of Libya and the ancient city of Ghadames.
The GTA said in a statement that these sites were registered on the danger list without any regulatory, legal or logical actions, in the absence of Libyan government representation, both in the 39th session that took place in the German capital Bonn in 2015, or in the 40th session held in 2016 in Istanbul.
The statement called on state authorities, Libya's representative to the United Nations, civil society institutions and the municipalities that locate these cultural sites to shoulder their responsibilities and take necessary measures to protect and preserve cultural heritage found in the Libyan territory.
The GTA also urged all World Heritage organizations concerned led by UNESCO to play their part and encourage affirmative actions that will ensure the protection of these sites in accordance with the provisions of the World Heritage Convention.
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