¡¡ ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- The African Union (AU) Monday condemned the recent fighting in the areas of Sool and Sanaag between Puntland and Somaliland in Somalia, which brought considerable loss of lives and destruction of property.

    About 100 people have been reported killed over the weekend in the fighting. But the cause for of fighting was unclear, with bothsides accusing each other of starting it.

    "These developments are all the more regrettable as they come at a time when the Somali national reconciliation conference has registered historic progress, through the formation of the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament and the election of the President of the Transitional Government of the Federal Republic of Somalia,and when all efforts and energies were expected to be geared towards consolidating those gains," Chairperson of the AU Commission Alpha Oumar Konare said in a statement issued here on Monday.

    Konare appealed to the parties involved in this crisis to immediately cease all hostilities and desist from any action that would further exacerbate the situation.

    He further urged the parties to settle their differences through dialogue, appealing to the countries of the region to continue to demonstrate their cohesion and unity of purpose and support toward the Somali people in overcoming their present difficulties.

    Since the breakdown of the Somali central government in 1991, conflict and famine have killed hundreds of thousands of people, plunging the country into anarchy.

    Somali lawmakers on Oct. 10 elected clan leader Abdullahi YusufAhmed as the president of the of the Somali transitional government, paying the way for the Horn of Africa country to return to peace. Enditem