TEHRAN – Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi has strongly criticized the Islamic world for remaining silent about Muammar Gaddafi’s criminal actions against Libyan citizens.

In a statement published on Monday, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi condemned the massacre of people by the Libyan dictator and the Islamic world’s inaction.“The atrocities occurring in Libya are unprecedented. A criminal, empty-headed, cruel man who has oppressively ruled Libya for 42 years is using military force and weapons to kill his own people and destroy his own country.”“The strange thing is that the Islamic world is only witnessing and is silent about these appalling crimes,” he stated.“Why is the Organization of Islamic Conference silent? Why doesn’t the Arab League do anything?” he asked.Elsewhere in the statement, ayatollah said that Gaddafi and his allies should be tried at the international courts.“The Islamic countries should at least recognize the revolutionaries like what the Western countries did and should introduce the criminal Libyan ruler and his allies as war criminals and call on the international courts to punish them,” he suggested.