Libya’s central bank ceases operations after director is kidnapped

Libya’s central bank has announced it will suspend all its operations after a senior employee was kidnapped in the capital Tripoli.

The bank condemned the kidnapping of its information technology director Musab Msallem in a statement on Sunday.

They said Mr Msallem was taken from his home by an “unidentified party” on Sunday morning and other workers were threatened with kidnapping.

The central bank says operations will not resume until Mr Msallem is released.

The central bank, which is independent but owned by the Libyan state, is the only internationally recognized repository for Libya’s oil revenues, a major economic resource for a country that has been torn for years between two rival governments in Tripoli and Benghazi.

According to the AFP news agency, this comes a week after the central bank was besieged by armed men.

According to local media cited by AFP, the gunmen did so to force the resignation of the bank’s governor, Seddik al-Kabir.

Kabir, in power since 2012, has been criticised over the management of oil reserves and the state budget.

Since the ouster and assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been suffered from chronic insecurity.

The country is divided by power struggles and currently has two governments: a UN-recognized government in Tripoli and another in the east of the country, backed by warlord Gen Khalifa Haftar.