Attackers bulldozed a mosque containing Sufi Muslim graves in the center of Tripoli in broad daylight on Saturday, in what appeared to be Libya's most blatant sectarian attack since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi.

Government officials condemned the demolition of the large Sha'ab mosque and blamed an armed group who, they said, considered its graves and shrines to Sufi figures un-Islamic.

---

It was the second razing of a Sufi site in two days. Ultra-conservative Islamists wrecked Sufi shrines with bombs and another bulldozer and set fire to a mosque library in the city of Zlitan in the early hours of Friday, an official said.

Libya's rulers have struggled to control armed groups who are competing for power in the north African country a year after Gadhafi’s fall.

The president of Libya's newly elected National Congress, Mohamed al-Magariaf, called the prime minister to an emergency meeting on Sunday.

"What is truly regrettable and suspicious is that some of those who took part in these destruction activities are supposed to be of the security forces and from the revolutionaries," Magariaf told reporters on Saturday night.

He did not elaborate on how security forces took part.

The English-language Libyan Herald news site reported that three journalists from the Al-Assema television station were detained by security forces as they tried to cover the destruction.

It said their detention was “a clear violation of press freedom in Libya”.

Security forces “sought to cordon off the site throughout the demolition and were hostile to any attempts by journalists to cover the situation,” it reported.

A Reuters reporter saw the bulldozer level the Sha'ab mosque as police surrounded the site and prevented people from approaching and did not stop the demolition.

Inside the mosque, empty graves lay gaping in the rubble.

"A large number of armed militias carrying medium and heavy weapons arrived at the al-Sha'ab mosque with the intention to destroy the mosque because of their belief graves are anti-Islamic," said a government official who declined to be named.

He told Reuters that authorities tried to stop them but, after a small clash, decided to seal off the area while the demolition took place to prevent any violence spreading.

"The SSC (Libya's Supreme Security Council) joins the ... condemnation," said council spokesman Abdel Moneim al-Hurr.

Pictures and video of the attack were posted on Twitter by user Thanku4theanger.

A man who appeared to be overseeing the demolition told Reuters the interior ministry had authorized the operation after discovering people had been worshipping the graves and practicing "black magic". The ministry was not available for comment.

One of Libya's highest-profile cultural clashes since the toppling of Gadhafi has been between followers of the mystical Sufi tradition and ultra-conservative Salafis, who say Islam should return to the simple ways followed by its prophet.

Salafis have formed a number of armed brigades in Libya. They reject as idolatrous many Sufi devotions - which include dancing and the building of shrines to venerated figures.

Conservative Muslims across the region - emboldened by the Arab Spring revolts - have targeted Sufi sites in Egypt, Mali and other parts of Libya over the past year.

The assaults recalled the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of two 6th-century statues of Buddha carved into a cliff in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.

Could sun-soaked Libya be the Mediterranean's next tourism hot spot?

The Sha'ab mosque housed close to 50 Sufi graves inside and, outside, the tombs of Libyan Sufi scholar Abdullah al-Sha'ab and a martyr who fought Spanish colonialists.

On Friday attackers razed the revered resting place of Abdel Salam al-Asmar in Zlitan, about 160 km (90 miles) west of the capital, and also set fire to a historic library in a nearby mosque, ruining thousands of books.

The destruction followed two days of clashes between tribal groups in Zlitan, said a local official.

"The extremist Salafis took advantage (of the fact) that security officials were busy calming down the clashes and they desecrated the shrine," Zlitan military council official Omar Ali told Reuters.

Sufi scholar and caretaker of the Asmar shrine in Zlitan Mohammed Salem said the government was coming under increasing political pressure from ultra-conservatives.

A Facebook page titled "Together for the Removal of the Abdel Salam al-Asmar Shrine" congratulated supporters on the "successful removal of the Asmar shrine, the largest sign of idolatry in Libya."

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

• Dozens killed, hurt in Venezuela oil refinery explosion
• Isaac heads for Cuba after drenching Haiti
• Tiger at German zoo kills staffer, is shot dead
• Canadian woman in water-soaked wedding dress drowns
• 'Crushing political dissent'? Gambia to execute every prisoner on death row

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

 

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, warned on Sunday the country could be heading towards a "bottomless pit" after protesters stormed a government office in Benghazi when he was inside.

A crowd demanding the resignation of the Libyan government smashed windows and forced their way into the NTC's local headquarters late on Saturday, in the most serious show of anger at the new authorities since Moammar Gadhafi was ousted.

---

The NTC has the support of the Western powers that helped force out Gadhafi in a nine-month conflict, but it is unelected, has been slow to restore basic public services, and some Libyans say too many of its members are tarnished by ties to Gadhafi.

• STORE: Militias may drag Libya into civil war

Abdul-Jalil later suspended the six representatives to the NTC from Benghazi, the main city in eastern Libya. They can continue to serve only if approved by the local city council. 

He also said he appointed a council of religious leaders to investigate corruption charges and identify people with links to the Gadhafi regime.

The body's deputy head, Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga, resigned in protest over the suspensions. Ghoga, known for his polished language and expensive suits, was a prominent spokesman during the eight-month civil war that ended with Gadhafi's capture and killing in October.

Another delegate, Fathi Baja, called the move "illegitimate" and said he would stand down only if the people of Benghazi asked him to. Baja, a well known critic of Gadhafi even before the uprising, also criticized the appointment of religious leaders, saying that when he was criticizing Gadhafi, "they were calling on people to obey the leader."

Also Sunday, the head of the committee tasked with preparing the country's election law said its release would be delayed for one week. The final law, which was set to be announced Sunday, will be made public on Jan. 28, said Othman al-Mugherhi.

The committee published a draft law earlier this month and said it would solicit comments from Libyans. Al-Mugherhi said the delay will allow the committee to consider these comments while drafting the final law.

The law will spell out how Libyans will elect the 200-members national congress, which will oversee the drafting of a constitution. The body is supposed to be elected before June 23.

Al-Mugherhi also announced the formation of a 17-member electoral commission to oversee the vote. The body contains professors, judges, lawyers and men and women representing non-governmental organizations, he said.

Under Gadhafi's rule, Libya had no working parliament for four decades.

Abdul-Jalil warned the protests risked undermining the country's already fragile stability.

"We are going through a political movement that can take the country to a bottomless pit," he said. "There is something behind these protests that is not for the good of the country."

"The people have not given the government enough time and the government does not have enough money. Maybe there are delays, but the government has only been working for two months. Give them a chance, at least two months."

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Thai man marries dead girlfriend, posts to YouTube
• Woman's body found in submerged Italy cruise ship
• Texas family survives Honduras plane crash into ocean
• Syria's capital delivers show of support for Assad

Reuters, The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.