Security Council welcomes peace talks

The UN Security Council has hailed ongoing regional efforts to reach a lasting settlement to the situation in Somalia. In a statement read out on Thursday by the current president, Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, the 15-nation body indicated its firm support for the "unified approach of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to national reconciliation in Somalia". The Council specifically lauded the ceasefire declaration signed in October by participants in the Somali reconciliation conference underway in Eldoret, Kenya. It also welcomed the parties' Joint Declaration signed earlier this month and urged all sides to stop acts of violence. However, the Council expressed concern over the situation of internally displaced people in Somalia. It called on all armed factions to allow humanitarian personnel "immediate and unfettered" access to these populations at risk.