500 studiosi
per la salvaguardia del patrimonio archeologico
della Libia e dell'Africa Settentrionale
500 scholars
for the safeguard of Libyan and North African
cultural heritage
To Director-General of UNESCO
Mrs. Irina Bokova
To Director of Arab League’s Educational Cultural and ScientificOrganization, Tunis
Mr. Abdullah Hamad Muhareb
To Director of Arab Regional Center for World Heritage
Mr. Mounir Bouchenaki
To Director of ICCROM
Mr. Stefano De Caro
To Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy,
On. Paolo Gentiloni
To Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism of Italy,
On. Dario Franceschini
To Director-General for the Country Promotion (Economy, Culture and Science) MAECI
S.E. Amb. Andrea Meloni
To Directors of the Italian Cultural Institutes of
Tripoli
Tunisi
Algeri
Rabat
Il Cairo
Object: Appeal to safeguard the Cultural Heritage of Libya and North Africa
We read with great concern and participation the Statement sent by the Department of Antiquities of Libya concerning the difficult situation of the cultural heritage of the country. We are well aware of the great value of the historical and monumental heritage of Libya, which must be absolutely preserved.
Thus, the Institutions as well as the scholars listed below ask the International Authorities to adopt any preventive action that can assist all the Libyan colleagues in their difficult, valuable, meritorious daily work aimed at safeguarding the extraordinary Libyan monuments.
They belong first and foremost to the Libyan people, depositary of such goods, people who, we are sure, will certainly defend them, but it is also common heritage of all civilizations which, each for their part, have the duty to preserve and pass on this unique heritage to future generations.
Furthermore we ask the representatives of Governments and the Institution responsible for protection of cultural heritage to take all the appropriate measures to counteract the illicit trades of materials from areas involved in armed conflicts.
At the same time we strongly manifest our solidarity to the Tunisian Colleagues and to the people of Tunisia with regard to the tragic events recently happened at the Bardo Museum. We are all at their disposal to support every initiative aimed at supporting in this difficult moment the cultural heritage of Tunisia.
Prof. Attilio Mastino
Presidente del Comitato scientifico de "L'Africa Romana", Università degli Studi di Sassari
Prof. Maria Antonietta Rizzo Di Vita
Centro di Documentazione e Ricerca sull’Archeologia dell’Africa Settentrionale “Antonino Di Vita”, Università degli Studi di Macerata
Direttore della missione in Libia dell’Università di Macerata
Prof. Giorgio Rocco
Presidente del Centro di Studi per la Storia dell’Architettura, “Casa dei Crescenzi”, Roma
Direttore della Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Architettonici e del Paesaggio del Politecnico di Bari