Italy urges reconciliation, ceasefire in Somalia

MOGADISHU, May 19 (Reuters) A senior Italian envoy flew into Mogadishu today urging warring Somalis to embrace a ceasefire and throwing Rome's endorsement behind an upcoming national reconciliation conference.

Patrizia Sentinelli, Italy's deputy foreign affairs minister, met with President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minster Ali Mohamed Gedi on her one-day visit to Rome's former protectorate which has been in chaos for the last 17 years.

''Security can only be realised through a ceasefire,'' she said in Mogadishu, where there has been a relative lull after fighting earlier this year between allied Somali-Ethiopia troops and insurgents killed at least 1,300 people.

The Somali government, which says it has defeated insurgents including militant Islamists and some elements of the local Hawiye clan, has called a reconciliation conference for mid-June involving hundreds of delegates from across Somalia.

''We request that the (conference) be an all-inclusive political process,'' Sentinelli added.

''(We agreed) clans would independently and freely select their representatives... We have an official promise that the (conference) will take place in a harmonious way,'' she added.

The conference was delayed from April due to the fierce fighting in Mogadishu. Street battles have given way to isolated guerrilla-style attacks in recent days.

A spokesman for the government, set up in 2004 in the 14th attempt to restore central rule to Somalia since warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, welcomed Italy's support.

''The Italians have said they are ready to help the (conference) succeed,'' the spokesman said.

''The president said anybody is welcome to attend the conference even if it is these boys who roam with guns in the streets. They should leave their guns and attend,'' he added.

REUTERS GT KP2100