Libyan People Celebrate Anniversary of Martyrdom of Omar Mukhtar.

Tripoli, 16 September 2019(Lana) Today September 16 falls the anniversary of martyrdom of Sheikh Omar Mukhtar, the legendary champion of struggle against the Italian occupation of Libya, who was captured and later hanged by the Italian colonial rulers on this date in 1931. The Libyan News Agency has learnt that the commemoration of this date, is in fact a celebration of the lives and deaths of all martyrs of homeland, who have died in defense of their country against the Italian colonial forces. Mukhtar who belongs to Al Mnefa Tribe was born in 1862 in a village called Defna in Cyrenaica, eastern Libya, his father Mukhtar died on way to Makkah, when he was young. He studied at Janzour religious school and then travelled to Al Jaghboub to further his study. He joined holy struggle against the Italian occupation forces, fought several battles during which he had shown braveness and resilience before he was surrounded at a valley in the Green Mountain region and taken to a prison in Benghazi. On September, 16, 1931, the Italian Army Commander Graziane arrived in eastern Libya and ordered a summary trial of the Libyan hero. 'He stood before me a man like no other man, Graziane recalled, and said to me 'we have taken oath that we die all but never surrender.' He was hanged in the town of Sulug in the presence of hundreds of Libyans who were brought from different locations in a bid to instill fear in them by the occupation forces. =Lana=