Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations urged Somalia's political leaders to unite to end the nation's 17-year conflict, after President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed conceded that Islamist insurgents control most of the country.

Somali government and opposition leaders, as well as members of the business community, should set aside their differences and help implement a recent peace accord, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN Special Representative for Somali, said in a statement today. The government and Islamist-led opposition the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia signed a cease- fire in neighboring Djibouti last month.

``After so many years of war and suffering it is vital to keep moving forward and not to allow personal interests, sensitivities or misunderstandings to get in the way of the continuing peace process,'' Ould-Abdallah said.

Somalia has been at civil war and hasn't had a functioning central administration since 1991, when former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was ousted. Violence has escalated since Ethiopian troops invaded the country in January 2007 and helped the UN- backed transitional federal government oust the Islamic Courts Union from southern and central regions.

Somali leaders last week failed to form a new government by a Nov. 12 deadline set by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, a regional body that groups seven east African countries including Ethiopia and Kenya. The Somali government collapsed in August when lawmakers who back President Yusuf resigned amid a feud with Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

Sabotage

Hussein on Nov. 16 blamed Yusuf for sabotaging efforts to create a new Cabinet, Agence France-Presse reported today, citing Hussein. Hussein and Yusuf met in Ethiopia last week and failed to agree on how to implement the IGAD accord, it said.

Last week, fighters from militias including al-Shabaab and Jabha al-Islamia captured at least six towns on Somalia's coast, including Marka, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu. The town is used as an entry point by humanitarian agencies, such as the World Food Programme, that provide assistance in the country.

Yusuf said on Nov. 15 that Islamists effectively control most of Somalia.

``Islamists have been capturing day after day swathes of Somalia and most of the towns are in the hands of Islamists,'' Yusuf said in remarks broadcast on Radio Hornafrik yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hamsa Omar in Mogadishu via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 17, 2008 07:49 EST