Libya’s Central Bank Coup Turns to Farce With Plea for Passwords
- New staff say they can’t access crucial payments systems
- Regulator latest symbol in battle to control Libya oil wealth
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The plot to wrest control of Libya’s central bank from its embattled governor had everything from an executive order to policemen surrounding the building. What it lacked was one crucial element: the passwords needed to actually take over operations.
As the new leadership backed by one of the OPEC nation’s two rival governments settles into the bank’s waterfront headquarters in the capital, Tripoli, any sense of victory is fleeting. Not only has the competing administration in Libya’s east shut down oil production in response, but the regulator’s new staff are struggling to get payments flowing again.