TRIPOLI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The second meeting of Libya's municipalities deans kicked off in the capital city of Tripoli on Sunday, seeking to discard political differences and emphasize national unity.
"Municipalities not only perform service tasks, but must be a real address to the unity of the country and its national sovereignty," said Abdarraoof Bait Al-Mal, dean of Tripoli municipality.
"We have gathered to emphasize the absence of municipalities from any political disputes or differences, because we are keen on the positiveness of their independent and impartiality." Bait Al-Mal added.
The two-day forum, which comes under circumstances of concern in Libya, is attended by 100 mayors, including 30 from eastern Libya. It is the first meeting in Tripoli to be attended by representatives from eastern Libya since the beginning of the political division in 2014.
"The mere holding of this forum is a stand against division and advocates of division," Husain Al-Hasi, mayor of the northeastern city of Shahhat, told Xinhua.
"We met to unite efforts and to contribute more broadly to find the most successful and comprehensive ways to solve the problems of our children and to discuss together and find solutions to end destitution and misery of the people," he said.
The first meeting of Libyan mayors was held in Shahhat in January, where 109 deans threatened to declare civil disobedience and form a national government, if political division continued in Libya.
Libya remains politically divided between eastern and western authorities, despite that a United Nations-sponsored peace agreement was signed by the political factions later in 2015.
