MOGADISHU, Somalia, December 20, 2006 -- 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 Abdillahi Yusuf.

Mohamed Abdillahi Hassan, a Baidoa resident reached by telephone late Wednesday, said the fighting intensified after dark. He said he could hear mortars being fired on the outskirts of town. During a visit to the Baidoa hospital, he said he counted seven government soldiers killed and 18 injured.

The clashes occurred one day after a deadline set by the Islamic group for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. The religious movement's fighters had threatened a major attack if Ethiopian forces did not leave Somalia.

As the fighting began, several hundred Ethiopian troops boarded 13 military trucks and _ with artillery support _ were dispatched to reinforce government troops on the eastern side of the city. The information came from a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

Somalia 's internationally recognized central government holds only a small area around the central town of Baidoa, about 140 miles northwest of the capital of Mogadishu. The Islamic militiamen, meanwhile, control Mogadishu along with most of southern Somalia.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991. The country's secular interim government, set up in 2004 and backed by the U.N., has rejected religious rule. Muslim leaders have insisted on an Islamic government.

The international community is concerned about the Islamic movement's alleged ties to terror groups, something Islamic leaders have repeatedly denied.

Jendayi Frazer, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, has said al-Qaida militants are operating with "great comfort" in Somalia, providing training and assistance to the Islamic militia.

Somali and Ethiopian officials allege that men wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania now hold senior command positions within the Islamic forces.

Somalia's deputy defense minister Salad Ali Jelle told reporters Wednesday that one of the embassy bombing suspects, Abu Talha al Sudani, had led Islamic militiamen in a battle with government troops Tuesday near Idale, 37 miles southwest of Baidoa. Ten people were killed.

Fears of a full-blown civil war have intensified in recent weeks. Both sides have moved fighters, fuel and ammunition to the front lines.

Source: The Associated Press