BAYDA, Libya — Fighters for one of the factions battling for control of Libya seized the Benghazi branch of the country’s central bank on Thursday, threatening to set off an armed scramble for the bank’s vast stores of money and gold, and cripple one of the last functioning institutions in the country.
The central bank is the repository for Libya’s oil revenue and holds nearly $100 billion in foreign currency reserves. It is the great prize at the center of the armed struggles that have raged here since the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. Western leaders had hoped that it might play a crucial role in helping to bring the rest of the country back together.
Since Libyan rebels toppled Colonel Qaddafi with the help of Western airstrikes, the country has slipped into chaos, as militias grounded in particular locations or ideologies have battled for turf, money and influence. Rival coalitions of these armed groups have divided the country into hostile camps, shutting down the two largest airports, crippling the ports, bombing and shelling civilian neighborhoods, and burning refineries and oil depots.
Though the country has vast energy resources, people living in its cities now face daily electricity blackouts, long lines to obtain scarce fuel, and shortages of staple products like cooking oil.
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In its statement on Thursday, the bank called the attack “a dangerous escalation that endangers the fortunes and livelihood of the Libyan people and threatens to bring down the last defense of the Libyan state.”
The statement went on to say, “The bank had worked very hard to stay away from any political disagreements and to remain an institution for all Libyans and all of Libya,” and urged all sides “to go to the dialogue table to negotiate, because that is the only way to steer Libya to safe shores.”
An earlier version of this article misstated when Mr. Kaber went to Washington. It was last month, not this month.
Suliman Ali Zway contributed reporting.
