UN urges talks after toll in Somali attack rises

MOGADISHU, Dec 1 (Reuters) The U N's special envoy to Somalia urged its government and Islamist movement to return to peace talks despite a suicide bombing near the government seat of Baidoa which killed nine people.

''Despite this incident, which we condemn, we are still working with the two parties to resume talks,'' Francois Loseny Fall told Reuters in Nairobi. Peace talks stalled in Khartoum last month and may resume this month in Sudan.

The car bombs went off at a checkpoint 5 km outside Baidoa yesterday. Two policemen and two suspected bombers were among the dead, officials said.

Information Minister Salad Ali Jelle told Reuters the toll had risen after one person died overnight from their injuries.

''This looks like an ugly terrorist attack, like the ones we have seen in Afghanistan and Iraq,'' Jelle said from Baidoa.

However, he appeared to back down from his initial statement that the Islamists, backed by al Qaeda, were behind the attack, saying it was too early to point the finger at anyone.

The Mogadishu-based religious movement, born out of sharia courts, denies any involvement. It suggested its arch-foe Ethiopia had a hand in the blast which happened less than three months after suicide bombers targeted President Abdullahi Yusuf.

''The people who died are Somalis and the only one who will benefit from this are the Ethiopians,'' said Islamist spokesman Abdirahman Ali Mudey.

Diplomats fear the stand-off between the Islamists, who control much of south Somalia, and the Ethiopian-backed government will spiral into all-out conflict, sucking in neighbouring countries and attracting foreign Islamic militants.

Talks between the two sides have repeatedly stalled and some fear the latest violence will derail plans for another round of negotiations in mid-month in Sudan.

''We're trying to reduce the tension and get both sides to resume dialogue. If something like that (the attack) happens, then it's a way of blocking the process,'' Fall said.

Somalia expert Matt Bryden said the blast seemed to be the work of Islamic radicals, possibly from the Islamist movement's youth Shabab wing. ''This is just another notch in the escalation between the two sides,'' he told Reuters.

''I think all indications are that the two sides are prepared for a confrontation, it's just a matter of time.'' REUTERS PDM BS1617