Masked Men Try to Storm Libya's Audit Bureau Headquarters; UN Mission Calls Use of Force to Impose an Appointment "Wholly Unacceptable"
TRIPOLI — Masked men in military uniform tried to storm the headquarters of Libya's financial oversight agency on Wednesday, October 21, in what the country's UN mission called an "unacceptable" attempt to install a senior employee by force, Reuters reported. Footage posted on social media showed a group of men in beige fatigues and hats at the gate of the Tripoli offices of the Audit Bureau, which is charged with safeguarding public funds.
It was not clear who was behind the attempt to storm the building, and the Audit Bureau made no immediate comment. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on Wednesday that "force and intimidation" had been used to try to install a disputed deputy head of the institution. "The use of force to impose appointments to sovereign institutions is wholly unacceptable and represents a grave threat to the rule of law and the independence and integrity of Libya's sovereign institutions," UNSMIL said.
Libya has known little stability since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. The country has been split into rival eastern and western camps since 2014. Armed factions, some with official status, have long vied for control of territory and financial revenues in the Libyan capital, sometimes raiding institutional buildings and abducting staff, Reuters reported.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：的黎波里地标Dath al-Imad塔群（资料图，非事发地点；国家审计局总部位于的黎波里）。照片：Gary Denham，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons。The Dath al-Imad towers, a Tripoli landmark (file photo, not the incident site; the Audit Bureau is headquartered in Tripoli). Photo: Gary Denham, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
