Libya’s powerful central bank governor is fired as country's deep divisions persist

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s presidential council has fired the powerful central bank governor in an abrupt move that is likely to further fuel tensions in the deeply divided North African country.

The council, which has a ceremonial powers, named Mohamed Abdul Salam al-Shukri as the new governor for the Central Bank of Libya, replacing Sadiq al-Kabir, according to a decree issued late Sunday. Al-Shukri is an economist and former deputy governor of the central bank.

The Tripoli-based council is allied with the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in western Libya.

There was no immediate comment from al-Kabir, who led the central bank since October 2011 — the year that Libya was plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

The oil-rich country has been split between a U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities based in the east. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

The Central Bank is the repository for billions of dollars annually in oil revenue as well as foreign reserves. In 2014, it splintered along the country’s political fault lines. Its internationally recognized headquarters remain in Tripoli, while an eastern branch allied with military commander Khalifa Hifter was set up in Benghazi.

The east-based parliament and the Supreme Council of State, an advisory body based in Tripoli, called the firing illegitimate. The two bodies are mandated to appoint chiefs of Libya’s sovereign bodies including the central bank governor, according to a constitutional document governing the country.

The east-based House of Representatives earlier appointed al-Shukri as a central bank governor in a decision that was not implemented, and the parliament rescinded it this month.