Somali rivals prepare for war after talks collapse

KHARTOUM, Nov 2 (Reuters) The Horn of Africa slipped closer to war today after intense efforts failed to revive peace talks between Somalia's powerful Islamists and the interim government.

''The international community needs to act fast and clearly to avoid a disastrous war that could turn the region into an Iraq-style situation,'' a Western diplomat said.

''We should look for the tiniest shred of hope to avoid this prospect.'' The government today rebuffed efforts to reorganise peace talks on November 15 after they failed this week in Khartoum.

''The government delegation has refused to set a date and a place,'' delegation member Ahmed Omar Gagale told Reuters after diplomats said mediators were trying to persuade the two sides to return to the table in the middle of the month.

The Islamists said they were ready for talks.

''We are always ready and prepared to go into negotiations,'' the head of the Islamist delegation Ibrahim Hassan Addow told reporters in Khartoum.

On the ground, Islamist sources said the movement was sending more fighters to the flashpoint town of Buur Hakaba.

It lies between the government's headquarters in Baidoa and the Islamist base in the capital Mogadishu. Both sides have tested guns in recent days.

''Given the situation on the ground, the proximity of the forces and the artillery duels of the last few days, an escalation is likely,'' regional analyst Matt Bryden said.

''It could be hours, it could be days, it could be weeks.'' Both sides are blaming each other for the failure of a third round of Arab League-sponsored negotiations seen as the best way to avert a conflict which could quickly widen into a regional proxy war drawing in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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