A large protest in front of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) took place on Friday in front of CBL palace. Staff at the CBL in Tripoli demonstrated today in protest at the kidnapping of their director of banking operations, Fathi Al-Haji, by unidentified gunmen. CBL director was kidnapped on May, 2, but no details had been released on kidnappers. This kind of proceeding is “common” in Libya with the instability, kidnappings against ransom have increased with Libyan instability. However the CBL has been a particular target for criminals. In June 2015 three investigators from the bank’s anti-money laundering department were seized while investigating an alleged multi-million dollar letter of credit fraud. They were released within 48 hours when angry CBL staff threatened a strike that would have shut down the whole banking system.
