Somali Islamists say Ethiopian presence blocks talks

KHARTOUM, Sep 5 (Reuters) Peace talks between Somalia's interim government and a rival Islamist movement cannot advance until Ethiopian troops who support the government are removed from Somali soil, a senior Islamist said today.

After three days, the second round of Arab League-mediated talks in the Sudanese capital ended with a deal in principle to eventually form joint Somali military forces and a resolve to return for political power-sharing negotiations next month.

Ibrahim Hassan Addow, the head of the Islamist delegation to the talks, told Reuters in Khartoum the talks could not proceed to political issues because ''Ethiopia is inside the country near Baidoa and brought by the transitional federal government''.

Somalia's Islamic courts which follow strict sharia law formed militias and began a campaign to clean up Mogadishu, which had been controlled by US-backed secular warlords.

In June they successfully took control of the capital and vast swathes of southern Somalia, including sea and air ports.

The fragile UN-backed government sits in Baidoa, near the Ethiopian border and has not been able to advance since it returned to Somalia in April.

Ethiopia, with a Christian majority, is allied to the interim government and fears an Islamic state in its anarchic neighbour. But Addis Ababa denies its troops are in Somalia, despite witness reports its soldiers are there.

Addow said the presence of the soldiers was the main obstacle to the talks, which failed to address power-sharing, political issues or detailed security arrangements.

He said the government delegation was not mandated to be able to confirm Ethiopian troops would be withdrawn.

''If they cannot say Ethiopian troops can leave Somalia then we cannot go any further,'' he said.

But in an effort to build confidence between the two sides, Addow said the Islamic Courts had invited the government to Mogadishu and that he would travel to Baidoa too.

Somalia has been torn apart by factions fighting for control of the Horn of Africa nation, which has become synonymous with anarchy since warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and tore Somalia into shreds.

Experts fear the conflict could spill across Somalia's borders and destabilise east Africa. Washington fears an Islamist controlled Somalia could provide a haven for militants who could threaten US interests in the region.

Reuters MS GC2035