MOGADISHU, Dec 21 (Reuters) - 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 an European Union envoy said the interim government and Somalia Islamic Courts Council had both pledged to resume peace talks without conditions.

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