NAIROBI, October 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Somali's warring factions took a major step towards restoring peace in their war-torn country Sunday, October 27, by signing a ceasefire accord to enable the drafting of a new constitution.

Under the agreement, signed in Eldoret, northwest Kenya, 22 faction leaders "committed themselves to the establishment of a national federal government and pledged security for humanitarian operations," a top official of the mediating committee said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The Somalis have finally agreed and signed the first crucial phase of the peace conference," the official told AFP.

The talks are the 16th attempt to bring peace to the Horn of Africa country, which has been ruled by clan warlords since the overthrow of the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in January 1991.

Leading warlords Hussein Mohamed Aidid, Musa Sudi Yalahow, Osman Hassan Ali "Atto", General Mohamed Said Hirsi Morgan, Colonel Hassan Mohamed Noor "Shatigudud" and Barre Hirale all attended the conference, along with delegates from the Transitional National Government (TNG) and the northeastern territory of Puntland.

Each controls portions of the divided country, while the TNG, set up in August 2000 by another peace conference held in neighboring Djibouti, controls pockets of the Somali capital.

Most warlords at the Eldoret conference pledged to honor the agreement, which Aidid described as a "milestone to the pacification and democratization of Somalia, which would make it a good place to live."

He told AFP Nairobi from Eldoret: "The world community can trust us that we will make peace in Somalia this time and implement all the agreed principles, but what we need now is a unified effort by the international community to help the peace process."

Aidid said he instructed his militiamen to lay down their weapons after the signing of the ceasefire accord.

A top official of the heavily armed United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Alliance (USC/SSA), which controls parts of south and north Mogadishu and the neighboring Balad district, said his Abgal clan fighters would respect the agreement.

"The peace agreement should not only be on paper, but should be implemented inside Somalia, and the USC/SSA will honour its pledge," USC/SSA official Abukar Ali Jumale told AFP.

For his part, northeast regional state of Puntland minister Awad Ashra also pledged to implement the accord.

"Puntland is not at war with any Somali group. It is an administration that has pacified its region and wanted to see a peaceful federal republic of Somalia," Ashra said.

"I would like to thank the organizers of the conference for their maturity and support for the peace process," he said on behalf of Puntland President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who is also at the conference.

In Somaliland, which declared independence from the rest of Somalia in May 1991, a foreign ministry official said the territory would like to see peace restored in Somalia, but insisted it was interested only in being "a good neighbor."

Somaliland is not participating in the Eldoret conference, which is sponsored by the seven-nation regional Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), comprising Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and nominally Somalia.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by representatives from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the Arab League, Egypt and IGAD.

By Sunday, October 26, the Somali factions holding negotiations at the Kenyan northwest of Eldoret since mid-October had made no tangible progress despite participation by most groups in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, faction officials said Saturday.

As the delegates continued to wrangle and failed to agree on issues at hand, mediators from the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) adjourned the Saturday session to Sunday or Monday to cool down tempers.

"The factions spent most of their time to petty local disputes and gave little time to tackle the important national issues," said a top south Mogadishu faction leader, who declined to be named.