July 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former Finance Minister of Libya, Faraj Bumatri, has been released this Saturday after being detained in Tripoli for several days, a fact that led to the closure of several oil fields and the cutting off of the water supply in different parts of the country, reported the Libyan channel Alwasat News.
Bumarti has been released “after the intervention of Attorney General Siddiq Al-Sour”, according to local authorities quoted by the same media.
Bumarti was detained by Tripoli’s Internal Security Agency on July 12 upon his arrival at the Mitiga airport, causing production at the Sharara field (in the east) to halt completely late Thursday due to a wave of protests to demand the release of the former minister, who is also a prominent tribal representative.
Bumtari would be considering the possibility of presenting himself as a candidate for the governorship of the Central Bank of Libya and that is why, according to members of the Al Zawia tribe, he has been “kidnapped” by the security forces of the Libyan government authorities recognized by the international community, based in Tripoli.
This situation occurs in the midst of a major episode of tension between the country’s prime minister, Abdulhamid Dbeibé, and the head of the Libyan High Council of State, Khalid al-Mishri, after five members of the legislative chamber led by the latter, also based in Tripoli, were detained without explanation at the airport.
In the midst of this chaos, the United Nations Support Mission (UNSMIL) has asked the parties not to use crude oil or other natural resources as a “pressure tool to resolve internal disputes.”
Likewise, from the UN mission they have regretted the arrest of Bumarti, urging the Libyan authorities and security entities to “release all those detained arbitrarily, guarantee independent investigations of all the alleged extralegal detentions and kidnappings and bring the perpetrators to justice”.
