After a bank official was freed from captivity, activities at Libya’s central bank (CBL) were restored.
Musaab Muslamm, chief of the bank’s information technology department, was abducted on Sunday by a “unidentified party,” but CBL has confirmed that he has been released.
There were reports of kidnappings of additional bank employees in addition to Mr. Msallem’s abduction from Tripoli, the capital.
Until Mr. Msallem was released, CBL would not reopen and had stopped all work.
After Mr. Msallem’s safe return, the bank issued a brief statement on Monday afternoon stating that business was operating as usual.
A crucial source of income for a country torn for years between two competing regimes in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya’s oil profits are held by the only internationally recognized depository, the central bank. The bank is independent yet owned by the Libyan state.
The kidnapping of Mr. Msallem occurs one week following the siege of the central bank by armed men, as reported by the AFP news agency.
Local media reported that the armed men wanted to remove Seddik al-Kabir from his position as bank governor.
Mr. Kabir has been in power since 2012, but he has taken heat for how the state has handled its oil riches and money.
Reportedly, Mr. Kabir met with British ambassador to Libya Martin Longden on Monday to address “the increasing threats to the security and safety of the central bank, its employees and its systems,” according to a public statement released by CBL.
Libya has been plagued by persistent instability ever since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in 2011.
A UN-recognized administration in Tripoli and an eastern government supported by warlord Gen. Khalifa Haftar constitute the two branches of government in this country, which has been split along political lines.
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