Tension has been growing in Libya after the dismissal of the powerful central bank governor Sadiq Al Kabir and other senior officials by the Tripoli-based Presidential Council, a move that could shut down commerce in the north African country, experts say.
The council has named former deputy governor Mohamed Abdul Salam Al Shukri in his place.
For years, the Central Bank of Libya has remained one of the only independent entities in the country, since a Nato-backed uprising that removed long-time dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
Libya has remained divided between two governments, one in the west, based in Tripoli and another in the east in Benghazi, locked in a power struggle that has brought conflict and hardship to the Libyan people.
Attempts by international mediators to resolve the rift have repeatedly failed as key political actors in the country remain unwilling to reach consensus. Former UN special envoy for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily said before his resignation in April that both sides have been putting their own interests above finding a solution.
The Central Bank has managed to somewhat stabilise the country through balancing distribution of oil revenues between the two rival governments, despite most of the oil fields being controlled by the Benghazi-based government allied with Field Gen Khalifa Haftar.
But Mr Al Kabir, who has been the bank’s governor since 2012, has repeatedly faced criticism from both authorities, who accuse him of mismanaging the country’s oil revenues and public budget.
The spark for his ousting came from his reported rejection of a request for more funds from Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and his allies including the Presidential Council that dismissed him. He told Mr Dbeibah that his government was overspending, namely on officials’ salaries, several sources told The National.
In response to Tripoli's decision to remove Mr Al Kabir, the Benghazi-based eastern government said it was shutting down oil fields and facilities in the country declaring a force majeure, effectively stopping the flow of oil revenue.
Libya's National Oil Company said on Friday the closures had caused a loss of around 63 per cent of total oil production.
Prime Minister of the eastern-based government, Osama Hamad, said on Monday that the decision to close oil production was taken after “repeated attacks on the leaders, employees and administrations of the Central Bank.”
Tarek Megrisi, Libyan analyst and senior policy fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations, told The National political jostling was behind the governor's dismissal.
"This is a feud and a competition between the Haftar family in the East and the Dbeibah family in the west who are both always looking to undermine each other and get the upper hand," he said.
A rapprochement between the Haftar family and the central bank had been observed, Mr Megrisi added, while relations between Mr Al Kabir and Mr Dbeibah have been drastically deteriorating.
"With their [Haftar family] control over the south - the oil fields specifically - they were strengthening and it seemed they wanted to expand further into Ghadamis [in the west] and border crossings with Tunisia and Algeria," he said.
Earlier in August, Mr Haftar announced that he was sending dozens of troops to the borders with Algeria and Tunisia, specifically the town of Ghadamis, a move that was seen as an attempt to seize control of a vital asset for the western government and a provocation to Mr Dbeibah and his government.
"At the same time, we had the Dbeibahs attempting to regain some power and control by replacing the central bank governor to strengthen their negotiating position with the Haftars," he said.
Central Bank figures from 2023 show Libya remains largely dependent on oil revenues, accounting for 79 per cent of the state’s public budget.
“If oil production stops in the country, everything would come to a halt as we have no other resources and two million public sector employees rely on its revenues to receive their salaries,” Othman Ben Sassi, a political analyst and former member of Libya’s now disbanded post-2011 National Transitional Council.
The ousted central bank governor reportedly left the country through the land border with Tunisia earlier this week. Mr Ben Sassi said that he verified the information with Tunisian customs and the whereabouts of Mr Al Kabir remain unknown so far, bearing in mind the probability that he could be either in Turkey or Malta due to his good relations with both countries.
The National has not been able to independently verify the information. Tunisia’s Ministry of Interior did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If oil production stops in the country, everything would come to a halt
Othman Ben Sassi,
former post-2011 National Transitional Council
Meanwhile, Mr Al Kabir confirmed his departure, together with other senior bank officials, from Libya in a telephone interview with the Financial Times, stating that he was forced to flee "to protect" his family's lives.
“Militias are threatening and terrifying bank staff and are sometimes abducting their children and relatives to force them to go to work,” he said.
Libya's economy on the line
The central bank’s importance stems from the fact that every single dinar spent by the rival governments must go through it. Only Mr Al Kabir can approve disbursements from the bank, including salaries, as he is the only one who possesses the access code of the bank’s entire system, Mr Ben Sassi said.
“This is the first time that Libya has reached this point, even at the time of the revolution in 2011 the central bank was never shut down,” he said. “This matter is very important and could lead to several repercussions.”
The UN Support Mission in Libya has also expressed “deep concern”, stating that such unilateral decisions could lead to further economic collapse and stir a social crisis among Libyans.
“The mission believes that continuing with unilateral actions will come at a high cost for the Libyan people to resolve the protracted crisis, and risks precipitating the country's financial and economic collapse,” it said.
The EU and its country missions in Libya also issued a statement on Friday, voicing growing concern about the deterioration of the situation in the country and denouncing the intimidation of central bank employees, closure of oil fields, and disruption of banking services.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Scores
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
RESULTS
5pm: Rated Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: AF Mouthirah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alajaj, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Abubakar Daud
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Tair, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Wakeel W’Rsan, Richard Mullen, Jaci Wickham
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
Winner: Son Of Normandy, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
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Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
