Tripoli — Representatives of Libya’s rival eastern and western legislative bodies, in talks facilitated by the United Nations, signed an agreement on Thursday to end a crisis over leadership of the central bank, nominating an interim governor and deputy.
The agreement could help to defuse a crisis over control of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) and oil revenues that has sharply reduced Libya’s oil output and exports.
The rival factions agreed on nominating Naji Mohamed Issa Belqasem, the CBL’s director of banking and monetary control, as an interim governor. Mari Muftah Rahil Barrasi, who was appointed deputy governor in 2023, is nominated to continue in his position.
The rival delegates agreed on allowing one week for the approval of the nominees. The interim governor Issa Belqasem would then form a board of directors within two weeks.
The crisis began when the head of the Presidential Council based in Tripoli, Mohammed al-Menfi, moved to replace veteran central bank governor Sadiq al-Kabir last month. That led eastern factions to order a halt of output from Libya’s oil fields in protest.
“I want to emphasise the urgent need to end the closure of oil fields and disruption of oil production and export and I welcome the pledges from the east to address this issue shortly,” the acting head of the U.N. Libya mission (UNSMIL), Stephanie Koury, said.
The legislative bodies are the House of Representatives (HoR) in Benghazi and High State Council (HSC) in Tripoli.
The HSC delegate, Jalil Al-Shawesh, described the talks as “long and difficult,” while the HoR delegate Abdul Hadi Al-Sghayer said that “the agreement will not be completed except by the combined efforts of the members of the two councils and the approval of the governor and his deputy.”
Libya has been divided since 2014 into rival authorities in the west and east that emerged from the chaos following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
“This crisis has shown the imperative for all parties to refrain from unilateral decisions. Such decisions not only escalate tensions, but they also deepen the institutional divisions,” Koury added.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation said on Aug. 28 that oil production had dropped by more than half of typical levels. It has not made public any new production figures since then.
The North African country’s crude exports have averaged about 400,000 barrels per day in September, down from over 1 million bpd in August, shipping data show.
Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Enas Alashray; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson – Reuters
