People move around the landing area as a U.S. amphibious hovercraft, right, prepares to depart with evacuees from Janzur, west of Tripoli, Libya, Sunday, April 7, 2019 -

Last updated: 6 hours ago

Tripoli

Libya's central bank on Thursday said unidentified individuals raided its headquarters in Tripoli, hours after parliament said it had accepted a request from its governor to resign.

The incident comes more than two months after bank governor Naji Issa first announced his resignation, which the parliament rejected at the time.

Beset by instability since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is divided between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Earlier this month, a new speaker took the helm of parliament, which sits in the eastern city of Benghazi under Haftar control.

The legislature said on Thursday it had belatedly accepted Issa's resignation "in principle" and appointed central bank board member Fauzi Abokhzam to be interim governor pending a final decision.

The central bank said the raid on its headquarters took place while Issa was away, adding that it held responsible for the incident "all parties that participated in this act".

It singled out "the defence ministry, which is tasked with protecting the bank's headquarters", without providing further details on its involvement.

The government in Tripoli did not issue a comment on the reported raid.

Issa's 2024 appointment by parliament as central bank chief had followed a political standoff that saw a halt in oil production amid a deep financial crisis.

It remains unclear why he had presented his resignation in August of this year.

Libya central bank: Armed group enters office at night, causing fresh crisis

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