Libya: Tension in Zintan region after officer’s kidnapping

In Libya, oil infrastructure is once again being used as leverage to pressure the Tripoli Government. On Tuesday, residents of Zintan shut down the oil valves in protest over the kidnapping last Wednesday of Brigadier General Mustafa al-Whayshi, the director of the Central Security Department within the intelligence service.

His kidnappers have not yet come forward, and in a recorded statement, leaders from Zintan—a mountainous city west of Tripoli—blamed the Government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and the Presidential Council for failing to address his disappearance.

In response, heavily armed convoys gathered in Zintan, with additional vehicles sent to the Rayayna site to support protesters who blocked the oil valve linking the Sharara and El Feel oil fields in southwestern Libya to the Zawiya refinery, just 45 kilometers west of Tripoli. This refinery processes around 350,000 barrels of crude per day—approximately a third of Libya’s total production—before it is transported to Italy.

Protesters also shut down access roads to Zintan, burning tires as a show of defiance. They have demanded the immediate release of al-Whayshi, threatening to escalate their actions if he is not freed.

In a statement, intelligence officials condemned the kidnapping, suggesting it is tied to “ongoing investigations into cases impacting Libyan national security.” This incident adds to a pattern in Libya, where militias frequently kidnap judicial, parliamentary, and security figures, as well as financial officials, to intimidate those investigating corruption cases involving militia members or their associates.