Baidoa — Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nor (Madoobe), speaker of the Somali national parliament, welcomed Djibouti peace deal on Monday after he held a press conference in Baidoa, the seat of the Somali parliament.

"I am very glad of the peace agreement between the transitional federal government and the Alliance for the Le-liberation of Somalia," Sheikh Adan Madobe said.

The speaker called on lawmakers in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, to return to the southern Somali town of Baidoa, as soon as possible.

About 60 Somali legislators from Kenya arrived in Baidoa on Monday and the speaker requested the remaining ones to return back to Somalia.

Most of the Somali parliamentarians have remained in Nairobi following a meeting there in late October with leaders of the regional body, the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), on the situation of Somalia.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords ousted the late Somali president Mohamed Siad Barre.