The Tripoli seafront headquarters of Libya’s $65bn sovereign wealth fund lay empty and unguarded on Thursday, the only sign of recent human activity a giant torn poster of Muammer Gaddafi in the foyer.
Perched high in a tower overlooking the southern Mediterranean shore, the office of an institution that was once courted by some of the world’s leading banks lay open to visits from rebel fighters and looters – even if its most interesting doors remain locked for now.
Before he found himself under siege from this year’s popular uprising and, quickly, a pariah once again, no institution symbolised Col Gaddafi’s return to the international fold more than the Libyan Investment Authority.