Peace talks between the Somali interim government and the Islamic Courts, a faction wants to create an Islamic state, had been postponed indefinitely, the parties mediating the talks announced in a statement here on Thursday.

"It has become clear for the negotiating sides that more consultations are needed for them on the essential issues and basic problems in order to push the talks forward," the statement said.

In fact, the talks never actually got started. The talks had originally been scheduled to resume on Monday, but the delegates refused to sit together after arriving in Khartoum despite mediating efforts by Sudan and the Arab League as well as other parties concerned.

The delegation of the Islamic Courts, which controls the Somali capital of Mogadishu and most of the south of the country, insisted on its demand of a withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops from Somalia as a precondition to start the new round of peace talks.

Security experts believe Addis Ababa has sent about 5,000 soldiers to help Somalia's interim government. Ethiopia insists it has only several hundred armed military trainers in Somalia.

In the statement, the mediators stressed the commitment of the international community, especially the Arab League currently presided by Sudan, to continuously support the Somali sides to resume their negotiations as soon as possible.

The statement also urged the Somali sides to exercise self- refrain and commit themselves to accords they had signed in the previous two rounds of peace negotiations.

Somali peace talks began in Khartoum in June when the two sides agreed on a formula for mutual recognition. A second session was held in the city on Sept. 2-3 when the two sides signed an agreement to form a unified national army.

Somalia was plunged into lawlessness in 1991 after the ousting of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre and the nation of some 10 million population was then divided into a patchwork of fiefdoms governed by unruly warlords.

The interim government was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations in the hope of restoring order after years of bloodshed, but the government has been wracked by infighting and its inability to assert control over much of the country.

Source: Xinhua