The Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Sadiq Al-Kabir and other senior bank officials, have fled the country to seek protection from potential attacks, various reports indicate.
“The head of the Libyan central bank who controls billions of dollars in oil revenue said he and other senior bank staff had been forced to flee the country to ‘protect our lives’ from potential attacks by armed militia,” the British Financial Times reported.
In a phone interview with the newspaper, Kabir, whose location was not specified, said militias have been ‘threatening and terrifying bank staff’ in attempts to push him out of office.
The move comes just days after a new leadership team accused them of absconding with crucial passwords.
According to the Governor, the interim Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibah, attempts to replace him are illegal and contravened U.N negotiated accords on control of the Central Bank.
The apex bank is crucial to the country’s economy, holding $27 billion in reserves, thanks to oil revenues. As reported by BitKE, The Central Bank of Libya also holds the third-largest gold reserves in Africa at 117 metric tons.
LIST | Here Are The Top 10 Countries With The Largest Gold Reserves in Africa #Algeria 🇩🇿, in North Africa (MENA) holds the largest gold reserve in Africa with an impressive 174 metric tons of gold.
Below is a list of the top 10 African countries that lead in terms of gold… pic.twitter.com/ftCwky4VYU
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) August 5, 2024
The attempt to oust Al-Kabir, which included an executive order from al-Dbeibah and law enforcement taking control of the building, partially failed after the new team realised it did not have the passwords necessary to keep the payments flowing, Bloomberg reported.
According to the Jordan Times, tensions have been rising since early August 2024 when a group of men – some of whom were armed – laid siege to the bank demanding the removal of Kabir. On August 18 2024, the bank announced it was suspending all operations following the abduction of its information technology chief.
The Central Bank of Libya in the Capital City of Libya, TripoliDays later, an eastern-based administration in divided Libya said that an ‘outlaw group’ close to UN-recognised government based in Tripoli, had forcibly taken over the central bank.
As a result, the administration based in the eastern city of Benghazi said it was suspending operations across oil fields and terminals in areas under its jurisdiction. The locations affected constitute around 90 percent of the country’s oil fields and terminals.
The oil blockade has led daily production volumes to dwindle to around 600,000 barrels per day, almost by half, Libya’s National Oil Company said on August 29 2024.
Kabir has faced criticism from people close to Dbeibah over the central bank’s management of oil resources and the state budget.
The North African country of about 6.8 million people continues to struggle from years of conflict after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator, Moamer Kadhafi.
Libya remains divided between the UN-recognised government in the capital Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and the rival administration in the east backed by military strongman, Khalifa Haftar.
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