ALGIERS, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Algeria on Saturday welcomed the reconciliation that just concluded between the two Libyan cities of Misrata and Zentan.

The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry Abdelaziz Benali Cherif said that this agreement is "a step in the right direction towards of national reconciliation and understanding in Libya," official APS news agency reported.

He noted that Algeria stresses the importance of the unification of national institutions, including a united army under civilian authority, with the role of preserving security and integrity of Libya.

Representatives of the Libyan cities of Zentan and Misrata met last Wednesday and made a final statement, stressing "the need to unify the army and the police under a civilian authority and to combat terrorism under all its forms."

Libya has been engaged in a civil war since the 2011 ouster and death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, which eventually divided the war-torn country into two governments, a UN-backed one in Tripoli and a parliament-backed, military-oriented one in Tobruk.

Algeria has been making diplomatic efforts to promote peace dialogue in Libya. The North African nation insists that foreign military interference would only lead to more chaos rather than resolving the crisis.

Algiers is concerned that the instability in Libya would affect homeland security of Algeria in the long run.