Libya militants seize control of central bank

Africa, News January 23, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Militants in Libya have seized control of the branch of the country’s central bank in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Militants took over the bank, where nearly USD 100 billion in foreign currency reserves are being held, on Thursday.

“We are the youth of the naval base, and we are here to guard the bank,” the New York Times quoted one of the militants as claiming in an online video showing the bank’s interior and its flooded basement.

In a statement on Thursday, the bank confirmed that “armed gangs” had taken control of its Benghazi facility.

The UN has condemned the move, calling for an inquiry into the takeover, which has complicated talks between the country’s warring parties.

Libya has two rival governments vying for control of the country, with one faction controlling Tripoli, and the other, Libya’s internationally recognized government, governing the cities of Bayda and Tobruk.

Libya’s government and elected parliament moved to the eastern city of Tobruk after an armed group based in the northwestern city of Misrata seized Tripoli and most government institutions in August 2014.

Libya plunged into chaos following a 2011 uprising against the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi. The ouster of Gaddafi gave rise to a patchwork of heavily-armed militias and deep political divisions.

The country has been witnessing numerous clashes between government forces and rival militia groups, which refuse to lay down arms.

Battles among the rival militants, who had participated in the anti-Gaddafi uprising, are mainly over the control of oil facilities in eastern Libya.

Pakistan’s Peshawar High Court ruled in 2013 that the attacks constitute a war crime and violate the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Meanwhile the Obama administration continues to insist that drone warfare is a precise and effective method of combat.

DB/HJL/MHB