Tripoli
Two months ago Mazin Ramadan, senior advisor to Ali Tarhuni, the oil and finance minister recently promoted to deputy prime minister, was, in his own words, fire-fighting a liquidity crisis in Benghazi. Today, after the first tranche of the £1.8 billion frozen Libyan dinars sitting in Britain finally reached Libya after five months, he’s feeling more relaxed. It arrived in the nick of time. Another reason for his bonhomie? He says he’s just received $300 million in frozen assets released by the US.
The most immediate challenge is tomorrow. Literally. The million dinar question is whether Tripoli goes back to work on Saturday. On paper it’s the first day for civil servants to return to their desks. Will Tripolines vote with their feet and send out a compelling message to the world that it’s business as usual?
The general mood, shared by almost every observer here, is so far so good.
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