The suspension of all its procedures was announced by its central bank Libyaafter the “kidnapping” of one of its employees in Tripoli.
Mossab Msalem, head of the central bank’s IT department, was “kidnapped by an unknown group in front of his home,” the bank said in a statement on its Facebook page.
The central bank announced that it had “suspended all its procedures”, adding that these they will not be repeated until Mr. Msalem is released.
Threat to employee safety
He denounced “kidnapping threats against other employees”, speaking of “outlaws” that “threaten the safety of its employees and the proper functioning of the banking sector”.
Central bank employee kidnapping is noticed a week after the meeting of dozens of people, some of whom were armed, in front of the bank’s headquarters in Tripoli, to demand the resignation of the commander, Sediq el Kebir.
The latter, who has held this position since 2022, criticized for managing the budget and oil revenues in the hydrocarbon-rich country.
In a meeting he had on Tuesday with the US ambassador and special envoy to Libya, Richard Norland, the commander had spoken of “growing threats to the security” of the institution and its employees.
Norland, for his part, described the commander’s dismissal as “unacceptable”, saying Libya could lose access to international financial markets, he told X.
Libya has been plunged into chaos since the fall and death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. It is ruled by two rival governments: the UN-recognized government of national unity led by Abdelhamid Dbeiba, based in western Libya, and another in eastern Libya supported by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Sources: AMPE, AFP, Reuters