DJIBOUTI (AFP) — The UN's Somalia envoy called Monday on Somalia's main political rivals to seek an end to years of bloodshed as peace talks opened Monday in Djibouti.
"I call on them to think of the terrible political, security and humanitarian crisis in their country and put all their efforts into resolving it," said envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.
His statement said he was "pleased that Somali leaders have put the wellbeing of their country and the safety of their countrymen as their priority."
The opening of the talks had been due to take place on Saturday but was delayed as some delegates had yet to arrive in Djibouti.
Ould-Abdallah has already met separately with leaders from the transitional government and the Asmara-based opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).
Ould-Abdallah will seek to build trust between the two sides, although Islamist leaders and allied hardline clans are boycotting the talks as they did in 2007 when the last attempt to reconcile the political rivals failed.
The fresh drive to bring all parties to the negotiating table comes after Nur Hassan Hussein replaced Ali Mohamed Gedi as prime minister.
The talks will be held against a backdrop of daily clashes between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops.
On Monday, at least three civilians were killed following an insurgent attack against an Ethiopian military convoy south of the capital Mogadishu, witnesses said.
Islamists have said they will not negotiate with the government until the Ethiopian army, which came to rescue of the embattled government in late 2006, leaves Somali soil.
The restive country has been devastated by almost uninterrupted civil conflict since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre which has defied at least a dozen peace initiatives.
