Fighting erupts before Somali reconciliation talks

MOGADISHU, July 19 (Reuters) Explosions echoed in Mogadishu's Bakara Market in the heaviest fighting in 15 days of non-stop violence, hours before crucial reconciliation talks were expected to resume today, residents said.

Suspected insurgents fired rockets, mortars and grenades overnight at Somali forces patrolling the sprawling market, following up with machinegun fire for nearly an hour. Witnesses said a shop selling fuel and others in the market were on fire.

''The sky was lit by the explosions,'' grocery shop owner Mohamed Abdi told Reuters. ''It was the heaviest attacks so far on the troops. The gunmen fired rockets, mortars and grenades at them. The market is tense. There is no news of casualties yet.'' The attacks came barely hours before a much-delayed Somalia reconciliation conference was to resume after being adjourned for three days to allow more delegates to arrive.

Diplomats say the meeting is the last best hope for the interim government -- a 14th attempt at forging national rule since 1991 -- to boost its legitimacy and win the support it needs to bring peace among Somalia's many factions and clans.

Yesterday, insurgents killed at least three people in Bakara including a policeman when they threw grenades at a patrol. Bakara is Mogadishu's largest market and home to one of the world's biggest open-air weapons markets.

It has also been the scene of sweeps by government and allied Ethiopian soldiers, who believe it is a hideout for insurgents thought to be members of an ousted militant Islamist movement who are waging an Iraq-style insurgency.

The rebels regularly attack government targets with roadside bombs and suicide blasts, and carry out assassinations.

They have threatened to attack the conference, which their leaders say they will boycott as long as Ethiopian soldiers are in the country. Three mortar bombs were fired at the opening ceremony on Sunday, but missed their target.

REUTERS GT SSC1354