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Somali Islamists "at war with Ethiopia"

MOGADISHU: Somalia's Islamists are at war against Ethiopia, a hardline Islamist leader said on Thursday, as fighting raged for a third day between his forces and pro-Government troops.

``We are at war with Ethiopia but not with the Government,'' Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told Reuters by telephone.

He accused Ethiopia of shelling Islamist positions in southern Somalia.

``The Somali Government and the Islamists do not have heavy artillery pieces — that shows Ethiopia is at war with us,'' he said. ``If we are attacked we are not going to sit back.'' His comments came a day after a European Union envoy said the interim government and Somalia Islamic Courts Council had both pledged to resume peace talks without conditions.

The Government said it had killed ``hundreds'' of rival fighters and wounded hundreds while the Islamists said they had killed at least 70 enemy combatants in the assaults. None of the figures could be independently confirmed. — AP

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