Diplomat Pushes Peace Talks in Somalia

Mahmood Salah Nuur, a top Somaliland opposition leader, tells The Associated Press that Somaliland could develop more if it was internationally recognized as an independent state in an interview in Hargeisa, Somalia on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2006. Nuur is first vice president of the Rally for Unity and Democracy Party, or Kulmiye. Kulmiye is the largest opposition party in Somaliland's parliament. Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 and has been relatively peaceful and stable compared with the rest of Somalia, which descended into chaos when warlords ousted longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. A British colony before gaining independence in 1960, Somaliland united with the former Italian Somali colony to the south, Italian Somaliland, on July 1, 1960 to become the new nation of Somalia. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim). (Sayyid Azim - AP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somali fighters clashed with artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns Wednesday, even as a European diplomat persuaded both the government and a rival Islamic movement to resume peace talks.

The heavy fighting outside the only town the government controls dragged on into the evening and underlined the difficulties of securing peace in this desperately poor country in the Horn of Africa.

European Union envoy Louis Michel said such skirmishes were likely to continue for now even though both sides had agreed to ease tensions and were committed to negotiations.

The talks will be held in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital where several rounds of talks have already been held. No date was given.

Somalia's Foreign Minister Ismail Hurre said that while the government seeks a peaceful settlement, it did not believe the Islamic Courts movement does.

Leaders of the Islamic movement said they were willing to attend discussions without conditions. Islamic leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys played down the significance of Wednesday's fighting.

The comments marked a shift in the position of Islamic movement leaders, who previously said they would not attend talks until Ethiopia withdrew its military support for the Somalian government.

Michel, speaking to reporters in neighboring Kenya after a day of diplomacy in Somalia, said he believed both hard liners and moderates in the Islamic movement backed Wednesday's agreement.

The diplomat said that the current conflict in Somalia is being driven by outside forces. In response to a question about Eritrea and Ethiopia, two neighboring states with a history of hostility toward each other, Michel said: "Somalia is suffering because some are using Somalia as a battlefield for other issues."

As many as 8,000 Ethiopian troops may be in Somalia supporting its government, United Nations officials say. Eritrea, the U.N. says, has deployed 2,000 troops in support of the Islamic group. Both countries deny these assertions.

Michel spoke Tuesday to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who expressed support for the EU peace initiative. But the diplomat did not provide other details of their conversation.

Clashes first erupted Wednesday nine miles from the government garrison town of Baidoa, where the EU envoy was meeting with Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and President Abdullahi Yusuf.