Libya’s interior minister Fawzi 'Abd al-A'al handed in his resignation on 26 August, after being criticized by the national congress following a number of attacks on Sufi Muslim shrines in Tripoli and Zlitan. The attacks have further raised fears of escalating sectarian violence in the wake of the overthrow of dictator Col Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi last year. Officials reportedly blamed ultra-conservative Islamists for the attacks. Local reports said that police surrounded the attackers, but did not move in to stop them.