On 20 August, the Special Deterrence Force (Rada) commander Abdurraouf Kara declared that the Presidential Council’s (PC) decision to replace al-Sadiq al-Kabir as Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) was worthless. He stressed that the protection of the CBL is one of Rada’s main tasks and they will not allow their sovereignty to be violated by force. Rada secures the CBL HQ and are key allies of Kabir.
On 21 August, militias were gathering near the CBL and Rada reinforced its positions. The CBL gave most of its staff the day off to avoid bloodshed if the situation escalated. Troops from the Misrata Joint Force were deployed to Tripoli in the early evening. The situation around the CBL was very tense, but the bank was not attacked.
On 22 August, a meeting of the most important military and militia leaders of the city took place in Misrata under the leadership of Mukhtar al-Jahawi, Commander of the CTF (Counterterrorism Force) Reserve Division, and Muhammed al-Hussan, commander of the 166th Brigade. It was decided to move troops to Tripoli to prevent the outbreak of fighting around the CBL. In Tripoli, Kara and Stability Support Apparatus (SSA) commander Abdul Ghani al-Kikli aka Ghinaywa negotiated about the current situation around the CBL. Kara supports al-Kabir, Ghinaywa is in favour of his replacement.