Libya Central Bank Governor, Other Bankers Flee to Avoid Militias

A picture shows a view of Libya's Central Bank headquarters in Tripoli on August 27, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
A picture shows a view of Libya's Central Bank headquarters in Tripoli on August 27, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
TT

Libya Central Bank Governor, Other Bankers Flee to Avoid Militias

A picture shows a view of Libya's Central Bank headquarters in Tripoli on August 27, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
A picture shows a view of Libya's Central Bank headquarters in Tripoli on August 27, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Libya's central bank governor Sadiq al-Kabir said he and other senior bank staff had been forced to leave the country to "protect our lives" from potential attacks by armed militia, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
"Militias are threatening and terrifying bank staff and are sometimes abducting their children and relatives to force them to go to work," Kabir told the newspaper via telephone.
He also said attempts by interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah to replace him were illegal, and contravened UN negotiated accords on control of the central bank.
The crisis over the control of the Central Bank of Libya creates yet another level of instability in the oil producing country.
The UN Support Mission in Libya early this week called for the suspension of unilateral decisions, the lifting of force majeure on oil fields, the halting of escalations and use of force, and the protection of central bank employees.



Israeli Military: 5 Soldiers Killed in Combat in South Lebanon

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
TT

Israeli Military: 5 Soldiers Killed in Combat in South Lebanon

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 16 others wounded in combat in southern Lebanon in recent weeks, the Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday.

Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a speech aired Wednesday that the Lebanese group is open for ceasefire negotiations only once “the enemy stops its aggression.”

His speech marked the 40-day mourning period since former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,000 people have been killed and some 13,600 wounded in Lebanon, the Health Ministry reported.