Somalia peace talks end, but violence continues

MOGADISHU, Aug 30 (Reuters) Somali reconciliation talks, seen as the best hope for peace in the war-wracked nation, ended today with the interim president urging insurgents and militias to swap the bullet for the ballot box.

President Abdullahi Yusuf wound up the 6-week-long conference, which produced a raft of upbeat resolutions but had no visible impact on a raging insurgency in Mogadishu.

''I'm puzzled by those who are still using guns to try to achieve anything,'' Yusuf said. ''I wish them to prepare for elections and seek the support of the people through the ballot.'' The Somali government and 2,000 delegates to the talks at an old police compound in north Mogadishu were positive.

''The government promises to take decisive action in implementing the agreements you reached. The Somalia national reconciliation conference is officially closed but we will continue with reconciliation until peace is achieved,'' Yusuf said.

Delegates, including African diplomats and representatives of all Somalia's main clans, agreed points ranging from terms for a clan truce, to the sharing of natural resources in the nation of 9 million, and elections planned for 2009.

The heavily guarded venue was targeted several times by mortar attacks since talks began on July 15.

With Islamists and other opponents boycotting the talks, and no let-up in the daily violence, analysts see achieving peace as a tall order in a country awash with guns.

Hours before the closing ceremony, insurgents attacked three police bases in Mogadishu, prompting the government to flood the city with security forces as foreign delegates arrived.

ANARCHY THE NORM Violence and anarchy have been the norm in Mogadishu since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991.

But clashes have worsened since December, when allied Somali-Ethiopian troops kicked out Islamist fighters who had restored some order to the city, sparking a deadly insurgency.

The talks triggered an upsurge in attacks by Islamist rebels, who have been joined by some factions of the city's dominant Hawiye clan.

Exiled opponents of the transitional government, including Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, are to hold a rival ''reconciliation conference'' on Saturday in Eritrea, whose government has been accused of backing the Islamists.

Mohamed Hassan Had, chairman of an anti-government Hawiye faction, urged Somalis to oppose the government, saying it did not represent the people.

''The Somali peace conference was fruitless. It was not meant to restore peace because government rivals were absent from the talks.

We need an all-inclusive national conference mediated by a neutral country,'' he said.

Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi say all factions were invited to the reconciliation talks.

Had's clansman Abdullahi Sheikh Elmi, who attended the meetings, said some Hawiye wanted to go mainstream.

''We plan to turn the Hawiye into a political party which will be open to other interested Somalis to join,'' he said.

''Hawiye clan elders are opposed to the presence of Ethiopian troops in our county, but we still have to be engaged in peace.'' REUTERS MS PM2135