The United Nations Security Council is beginning a 10-day, five-nation mission to Africa with a drive to support the Somali peace talks being held in neighbouring Djibouti.

Speaking before the Security Council left New York, the South African ambassador to the UN, Dumisani Kumalo, urged Somali leaders to seize the possibilities offered by the mission.

"It's a great opportunity for the Somalis," he said. "They mustn't miss this opportunity, because it may never happen again that the Council comes to a place where all of them are assembled at the same time," according to a UN news conference transcript.

"The ability of the Council to appeal directly to people, not through presidential statements or resolutions this time, but face to face […] I think that has tremendous impact," he said.

The Djibouti talks include representatives of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Somali opposition. The Security Council was scheduled to arrive in Djibouti on Monday.

From there, it plans to fly to Sudan, where it will promote the north-south peace agreement and visit Darfur, and then to Chad to give backing to President Idriss Déby and a dialogue with the opposition. It will also visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo to support peacebuilding initiatives, and Abidjan, where it will discuss the agreement which brought together the government and former rebels of the  Forces Nouvelles.