1 must go back to May-Oct 2018, when both #UN & #US began exerting a pressure on the #CBL in #Tripoli.
At the time, an #LNA attack on the capital wasn't seen as imminent, nor was a #Hibri-#Kabir reunification considered a hot priority
Following #Haftar's Jun '18 #OilCresc blockade, #US (thru the #UN) helped #CBL devise a measure, which was implemented after the Aug-Sep '18 LoC battle in Tripoli.
An LoC #tax now made the de-facto conversion rate 3.9 dinars to 1 $.
$10k packages were introduced for households.
The #US-designed measure—rolled out by #Kabir in Oct ’18—was effectively a devaluation of the dinar w/ the added benefit of attracting banknotes back into the system.
The measure turned out to be a success.
It also reduced the amount of political controversy surrounding #Kabir
Long before #Ankara began sending #Syrian Turkmen fighters in Dec to help the #GNA, the number of gung-ho fighters willing to go risk their lives on behalf of the #LNA in W #Libya was insufficient.
That is an important reality even if pro-#LNA voices are loathe to acknowledge it
That’s why the #LNA has used #Sudanese mercs throughout 2019. On LNA side, Sudanese mercs have been basically part of the furniture, eliciting little comment.
Above issue is also the reason why the arrival of a few hundred #Russian fighters near #Tripoli in Sep had a big effect.
