Fight for Control of Central Bank Threatens Libya’s Uneasy Peace

Libya has scarcely known peace or stability since rebels overthrew its longtime dictator during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. After a civil war that ended in 2020, Libya remains split between rival, mutually hostile governments, one in the west and one in the east.

That uneasy stalemate appears headed for a destabilizing shake-up after a series of moves by political players, including a fight for control of the central bank, the conduit for Libya’s vast oil wealth and therefore a key prize in political factions’ infighting.

On Monday, the country’s presidential council tried to fire the bank head, Sadik al-Kabir, by decree. He refused to go, and analysts said the decree was legally toothless, but the leader of Libya’s western government endorsed the move and the presidential council announced that it would install a new central bank board of directors, beginning Wednesday.

Here’s what to know about how the country’s shaky peace and power-sharing might be unraveling.

What is the state of affairs in Libya?

The U.N.-recognized government headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeiba controls only western Libya. The eastern part of the country houses the country’s Parliament and has its own prime minister, but it is ruled by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a warlord.

Since Mr. Hifter’s attempt to seize the capital, Tripoli, ended in a cease-fire in 2020, conflict has not erupted again because powerful players on both sides have struck deals to benefit themselves, analysts say, splitting up Libya’s oil revenues. Though the arrangement tamped down outbreaks of violence between rival militias, it did little to help regular Libyans.

The United Nations brokered a deal that put Mr. Dbeiba in office and created the three-member presidential council, which ensured Libya’s various regions were represented in leadership. They were supposed to step down after nationwide elections and unification of the country, but the elections never took place.