DUBAI, June 22 (Reuters) - An al Qaeda leader said a U.N.- brokered peace deal between the Somali government and some opposition figures was worthless and called on Islamist insurgents in the Horn of Africa nation to fight on. "Do not accept anything less than an independent Islamic state, that does not recognise the legitimacy of international (law) ... and does not look to the East or to the West," Abu Yahya al-Libi said in a video posted on pro-al Qaeda websites on Sunday. Libi praised hardline Islamists for rejecting a June 10 peace deal between Somalia's interim government and some opposition figures, saying he said "was not worth the paper it was written on". "A withdrawal of occupying Ethiopian forces and their replacement with any other forces, be they from the African Union or the United Nations or under any other ... entities, does not change the situation," said Libi, who is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan. The deal was rejected outright by hardline Islamists in exile and the insurgents on the ground, and experts have warned it was likely to have little impact on the violence. Those who rejected the pact included Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki -- both on the U.S. and U.N. lists of al Qaeda associates. Islamists who opposed the U.N.-led Djibouti talks have refused to meet the Western-backed government face-to-face until Ethiopian troops leave Somalia. Since early 2007, insurgents have been carrying out near-daily, Iraq-style attacks on Somali and Ethiopian security forces. The Ethiopian forces are fighting with the government against the insurgents. The country has been in near-perpetual conflict since the 1991 toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. (Reporting by Firouz Sedarat)
The covered body of a boy killed during an exchange of artillery barrages and machine-gun fire between Islamist rebels and allied Somali-Ethiopian forces is brought to the Medina hospital in Mogadishu ...
