TRIPOLI: Libya’s Tripoli-based central bank said on Sunday it would shut down all operations and not resume work until a senior bank official kidnapped earlier in the day was released.
The central bank is the only internationally recognized depository for Libyan oil revenues, a vital economic income for a country torn for years between two rival governments in Tripoli and Benghazi.
The bank said an unknown party was behind the abduction on Sunday of Musaab Muslam, head of its information technology department.
“The bank rejects the mob-like methods that are practiced by some parties outside of the law,” it said in a statement.
It added that other bank officials had also been threatened and therefore it would suspend operations until “these practices are stopped and the concerned authorities intervene.”
Richard Norland, the US ambassador to Libya, said last week that attempts to replace the bank’s senior management by force could result in the North African country losing access to international financial markets.
Norland met with bank governor Sadiq Kabir to discuss concerns about armed groups gathering around the bank’s headquarters in Tripoli, the US embassy said.
“Disputes over distribution of Libya’s wealth must be settled through transparent, inclusive negotiations toward a unified, consensus-based budget,” Norland said.
Libya has enjoyed little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi, and it divided in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions.
On Aug. 9, at least nine people were killed and 16 wounded after clashes erupted between two armed factions in Tajoura, an eastern suburb of Tripoli.
Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Unity is headed by interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, who was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021.
Eastern Libya, where the national parliament is based, is under the effective control of military commander Khalifa Haftar.
Despite a 2020 truce and efforts to formally reunify institutions, a political solution has proven elusive.
Libya’s central bank suspends operations after kidnapping of official
https://arab.news/4gyz3
Libya’s central bank suspends operations after kidnapping of official
- The bank said an unknown party was behind the abduction on Sunday of Musaab Muslam, head of its information technology department
- Other bank officials had also been threatened
The art of war: fears for masterpieces on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi
- UAE paid more than €1 billion to borrow priceless works, but experts in France want them back
PARIS: The Middle East war has raised fears for the safety of priceless masterpieces on loan from France to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum’s only foreign branch.
The Abu Dhabi museum, which opened in 2017, has so far escaped damage from nearly 1,800 Iranian drone and missile strikes launched since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28.
However, concerns are mounting in France. “The works must be removed,” said Didier Selles, who helped broker the original agreement between France and the UAE.
French journal La Tribune de l’Art echoed that alarm. “The Louvre’s works in Abu Dhabi must be secured!” it said.
France’s culture ministry said French authorities were “in close and regular contact with the authorities of the UAE to ensure the protection of the works loaned by France.”
Under the agreement with the UAE, France agreed to provide expertise, lend works of art and organize exhibitions, in return for €1 billion, including €400 million for licensing the use of the Louvre name. The deal was extended in 2021 to 2047 for an additional €165 million.
Works on loan include paintings by Rembrandt and Chardin, Classical statues of Isis, Roman sarcophagi and Islamic masterpieces: such as the Pyxis of Al-Mughira.
A Louvre Abu Dhabi source said the museum was designed to protect collections from both security threats and natural disasters.
