Libya's rival central bank branches reunite

TRIPOLI, Aug 21 (AFP): Libya's central bank announced on Sunday that its two rival branches in the west and east are reuniting after nearly a decade apart.
The North African country is currently split between Abdelhamid Dbeibah's UN-backed government in the west and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Libya has seen 12 years of stop-start conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that toppled strongman Moamer Kadhafi.
On Sunday, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) said it has "again become a unified sovereign institution", in a statement issued by the governor and his deputy.
The bank had been split since 2014, between the internationally recognised headquarters in Tripoli and another in Bayda in the Haftar-controlled east.
Al-Seddik al-Kebir, governor of the Tripoli-based bank, and Marii Moftah Rahil, governor of the rival branch in the east, made the announcement after a meeting attended by consultants and directors of both branches.