Somali government officials and Islamic militia leaders agreed Wednesday to resume peace talks, a European Union envoy said as fighting between the two rival groups broke out in a government-controlled town.

"I am very happy the Islamic courts have accepted to engage in political dialogue with the transitional government," said Louis Michel, European commissioner for development and aid. "For me this is very significant."

Michel met government officials in the town of Baidoa before heading to the capital, Mogadishu, for talks with leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts.

Clashes between forces for the rival groups were reported in the villages of Moode Moode and Daynunay, both near Baidoa, after the meeting began.

But Michel said he was pleased with the outcome of the last-ditch peace mission.

Leaders of the Islamic movement said they would return to peace negotiations without any conditions. They had demanded that Ethiopia, which supports the interim government, pull its troops from the country.

The talks were to take place in Khartoum, Sudan, but no date has been set.

Both sides blamed each other for Wednesday's fighting, which involved exchanges of mortar fire. Both sides used artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns, according to local residents.

Salad Ali Jelle, Somalia's deputy defence minister, told the Associated Press: "Islamic militias have attacked us and the fighting is continuing."

Abdirahin Ali Mudey, spokesman for the Islamic movement, said there was fighting in three areas and militiamen had captured the village of Daynunay.

Islamic leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys said the fighting was not the start of a larger armed conflict.

"This was not full-scale war," he said after meeting with Michel. "The fighting was a small incident between the Islamic courts and the Ethiopians, not between us and the government."

Michel met in Baidoa with Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and President Abdullahi Yusuf, both of whom represent the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic.

Somalia has not had a government in control of the entire country since 1991. The government controls a limited area around Baidoa, while the Islamic militiamen are running Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia.

The secular government was set up in 2004 and has the approval of the United Nations. Muslim leaders, however, want an Islamic government in charge.

The Union of Islamic Courts denies it has links to the militant group al-Qaeda.

The United Nations estimates Ethiopia has about 8,000 troops in the country to support the government while nearby Eritrea has about 2,000 troops to aid the Islamic group.

Both countries deny they are involved.

  

 

With files from the Associated Press