A regional summit began Monday in Kenya's capital of Nairobi with African leaders calling for sustained support to reconstruct southern Sudan and war-torn Somalia where several years of fighting destroyed infrastructure and left virtually nothing.

The presidents from member states of Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) also appealed to the international community to remain engaged in the two peace processes in order to create an enabling environment for peace to thrive.

In his opening remarks, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki lauded the progress which has been realized in the implementation of Sudan peace agreement, reached in January 2005, adding that peace and stability was a prerequisite for the realization of effective regional integration and economic development.

"It is critical that all parties involved, including the international community to continue to play their respective roles in support of the consolidation of the gains we have made so far," Kibaki said.

"In this regard, the post-conflict reconstruction efforts in these two countries (Sudan and Somalia) demand the collective engagement of all partner states as well as the international community in order to create an enabling environment for peace to flourish," said Kibaki who is also the incoming chairman of the IGAD Heads of State and Government.

He called for concerted efforts among regional states to find solutions to conflicts ravaging the region and appealed to donors to fund the reconstruction process in the southern Sudan after a landmark peace agreement was signed in Nairobi last year ending Africa's longest running war.

However, the agreement did not cover a separate conflict in the western Darfur region, where almost three years of fighting have created what the United Nations calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

"The role by the IGAD Partners Forum in the peace processes for southern Sudan and Somalia served to demonstrate what a true international and regional partnership can achieve in resolving local issues. I urge them to continue to support the post-conflict reconstruction process," said Kibaki.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called for regional cooperation to resolve the conflicts which are bedeviling the region, warning that lack of such an initiative may worsen the situation.

"Lack of cooperation among states of the region turn small problems into big problems," said Museveni who is the outgoing chairman of the IGAD Heads of States and Government.

He welcomed the current initiatives to restore normalcy in Somalia, condemned the increased inflow of weapons and called on all parties to cease the fighting that continues to claim innocent life and hamper critical humanitarian aid.

Museveni said the planned deployment of peacekeepers to the Horn of African nation was not insurmountable, saying similar initiatives have succeeded in Burundi, Rwanda and in his own country after the defeat of the late dictate Idi Amin in 1979.

He said his country and a few other countries were ready to send forces to Somalia to help the Transitional National Government to secure itself but the issue was vehemently resisted by a section of the Somali leaders.

"I am sure sending forces to Somalia is not such insurmountable problem because we did it in Uganda, in Rwanda during and after the genocide and currently in Burundi following the peace process there authored by the region," said Museveni.

Previous foreign peacekeeping missions in Somalia have ended disastrously.

The United States sent troops in 1992 ahead of a UN force but left two years later after tough resistance from warlords, including a 1993 clash which killed 18 U.S. soldiers.

Both Sudan and Uganda had offered 4,000 soldiers for a peacekeeping mission and said the international community needed to act now if it wanted to prevent Somalia again becoming a source of instability.

But Kibaki called on leaders in neighboring Somalia to promote peace and reconciliation in their efforts to reconstruct the war- torn nation.

The Kenyan leader said recent incidents of piracy along the Somali coastal waters have caused a great deal of concern to the region as well as the International Maritime Organization.

"I call upon IGAD member states and the international community to join hands in fighting piracy. I also appeal to the people of Somalia to give the ongoing reconciliation process and national dialogue support so that lasting peace can return to the country," said Kibaki.

The one-day summit is being attended by President Kibaki of Kenya, Museveni of Uganda, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed of Somalia and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, while Eritrea is being represented by its agriculture minister.

Source: Xinhua