Nairobi, (insidesomalia.org)- The international community must help Somalia's rival factions implement a UN-brokered truce in the war-shattered east African nation, the UN special envoy for Somalia said.

In an interview, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah expressed optimism that the June 9 accord reached in Djibouti would bring a halt to more than 17 years of civil strife in the volatile Horn of Africa country.

"All Somali parties have initialled the agreement except two individuals who are regarded as terrorists by the UN Security Council and the Americans," said Ould Abdallah, who is accompanying UN chief Ban Ki-moon on a 24-hour visit to Saudi Arabia.

"Now the ball is in the court of the international community: The Europeans, the United States and the Arab League," he said on Saturday. "They must help the Somalis implement a ceasefire."

'They must help the Somalis implement a ceasefire'

Somalia has been wracked by violence since the 1991 ouster of Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre led to a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous bids to restore normalcy.

Its Ethiopian-backed transitional government is now battling a guerrilla war waged by Islamist militants ousted in 2006 which according to international rights groups and aid agencies has left at least 6 000 civilians dead and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The three-month truce deal was initialled by the government of Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), an opposition umbrella group dominated by Islamists and based in Eritrea.

Ould Abdallah, who is based in Nairobi but travels frequently to Mogadishu, played down the fact that ARS member Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has rejected the deal, accusing the influential radical cleric of "being manipulated by Eritrea."

Aweys, accused by the United States of links to Al-Qaeda, argued it failed to set a clear deadline for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who have been propping up the transitional government since the end of 2006.

'Saudi Arabia has been playing a very important role on this issue'

"For a long time, my Western friends have been telling me that they could not act because of the Somalis's failure to find common ground. Now there is no excuse," Ould Abdalla said, urging the West "to do its part of the bargain by providing adequate resources to shore up the deal."

Ban, meanwhile, said that King Abdullah regards the truce as a "breakthough" and will invite rival factions to an official signing ceremony as soon as possible.

"Saudi Arabia has been playing a very important role on this issue," Ban said after talks with the monarch in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

The oil-rich kingdom, which is home to a large Somali exiled community, is a major benefactor for all Somali factions, providing material, financial and political support.

The Djibouti accord notably calls for the establishment of a security committee to ensure implementation of the ceasefire as well as of a high-level panel to promote political cooperation, justice and reconciliation.

It also calls for the holding of an international donors' conference to fund reconstruction and development.

Ould Abdallah said the UN Security Council must give the green light for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force "to facilitate the withdrawal of all foreign troops and stabilise the country."

Under the deal, Ethiopians troops, who since their arrival have knocked out Islamists from south and central Somalia, are to withdraw after the UN deployed peacekeepers within 120 days of the armistice taking effect.

The African Union has deployed some 2 600 peacekeepers in Somalia - short of the pledged 8 000 troops - but they have failed to stem violence. Source: AFP