ADDIS ABABA,(insidesomalia.org)- Leaders from six East African nations urged a peaceful end to simmering conflicts in the volatile region Saturday, saying they undermine African unity.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, the head of the six country Intergovernmental Authority on Development, said Eritrea and Djibouti, which have launched military buildups on their shared border overlooking critical Red Sea Shipping lanes, must show restraint

Skirmishes between the countries' troops this week killed at least nine Djiboutians and wounded more than 60. "I wish to urge the sister states of Djibouti and Eritrea to exercise restraint and to resolve the dispute amicably through dialogue," Kibaki said at the IGAD meeting in the Ethiopian capital.

The U.S. has more than 1,200 troops stationed in Djibouti, where an anti-terrorism task force for the Horn of Africa is based. France also has a base in Djibouti, its former colony.

IGAD is an East African alliance of Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti and Sudan. Eritrea dropped out of the alliance last year amid conflict with archenemy Ethiopia.

The group also praised recent progress in reaching a peace agreement in Somalia, but made repeated calls for a U.N. force to replace the Ethiopian army and a small, flagging African Union peacekeeping force.

The Somali government and some opposition members agreed last week to stop hostilities, but it remains to be seen whether hard-line members of the opposition will respect the accord. The country has been wracked by conflict for more than a decade. In 2007, Islamic militants launched an Iraq-style insurgency.

Source: AP