CAIRO: Libya’s presidential council has sacked the powerful central bank governor in an abrupt action that is likely to further fuel tensions in the deeply divided North African state.
According to a decree, the council named Mohamed Abdul Salam Al-Shukri as the new governor of the Central Bank of Libya, replacing Sadiq Al-Kabir. Al-Shukri is a senior economist and former deputy governor of the central bank.
The council based in Tripoli is allied with the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in western Libya. Al-Kabir, led the central bank since October 2011 the year a NATO-backed uprising ended the rule of dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The oil-rich African country has been split between the UN-backed government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities based in the east. Each side has been backed by foreign governments and armed groups.
Billions of dollars annually are being deposited in the central bank in oil revenue as well as foreign reserves. The bank’s globally recognized headquarters is in Tripoli, while an eastern branch allied with military commander Khalifa Haftar was founded in Benghazi.
Earlier, the east-based House of Representatives had appointed Al-Shukri as a central bank governor in a decision that was not implemented.
