TRIPOLI, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The chiefs of staff of Libya's competing military forces held their first-ever meeting on Libyan soil on Sunday in the central city of Sirte, stressing the importance of unifying the country's military institution as a cornerstone for national stability.
Chief of General Staff of the Libyan Army under the Government of National Unity (GNU) Salah al-Din al-Namroush and Khaled Haftar, chief of general staff of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), co-chaired the meeting, read a statement from the Media Center of the General Staff in western Libya.
Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs at the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Stephanie Koury and other senior military officers from the GNU and the LNA attended the meeting, the statement said.
The participants affirmed that unifying the armed forces is the only viable option to safeguard the country, protect its borders and reinforce stability, and agreed to hold a joint field exercise in the country's south to boost operational readiness and inter-unit cooperation.
The meeting also touched on mechanisms to support military personnel, enhance their capabilities, safeguard administrative and financial rights, and address obstacles that may hinder their performance, the statement said.
It authorized service chiefs from both sides to hold monthly coordination meetings to improve institutional performance, the statement added.
The meeting came as part of ongoing Libyan and UN-backed efforts to heal a military divide that has persisted between the country's eastern and western factions for years.
Since the 2011 fall of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been split between the UN-recognized GNU in Tripoli and the eastern administration backed by the LNA. ■