By Ingrid Melander BRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) - The European Union's top aid official urged the Somali authorities on Thursday to act "in good faith" on national reconciliation and said nothing justified the postponement of a reconciliation conference. The government-organised conference was due to start on Thursday but was postponed for one month on Wednesday. It was the second delay to what foreign diplomats regard as the best conduit for peace in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation. Ali Mahdi Mohamed, chairman of the National Reconciliation Committee, said the conference was postponed because several clan leaders had requested a delay to choose their delegates. The venue of the conference -- a rundown and bullet-scared former police compound -- had also not been refurbished. "These are not serious reasons," said Louis Michel, the EU's Aid and Development Commissioner who has taken part in international peace efforts for Somalia. "Nothing justifies the delay. "Some people need to stop playing speculative games that aim at buying time, or excluding some parties," Michel said in an interview. "We need good faith in the reconciliation process." Asked to whom he was referring, the former Belgian Foreign Minister said: "About everybody is playing speculative games. "President (Abdullahi) Yusuf and Prime Minister (Ali Mohamed) Gedi have promised a national reconciliation conference ... it is not going fast enough, there is procrastination." Somali insurgents assassinated a local official on Thursday and attacked Ethiopian troops overnight, residents said. Islamist-led insurgents have been fighting the Somali interim government and its Ethiopian allies since the New Year when they were ousted from Mogadishu in a two-week offensive. Large scale battles have given way to guerrilla-style hits and the overnight strikes on the Ethiopian troop positions were the heaviest attacks since last month. The EU executive Commission has granted 15 million euros ($20 million) to help finance an African Union peace force in Somalia and has also promised to help finance the national reconciliation conference, Michel said. The European Commission says it is the biggest donor to Somalia, contributing some 300 million euros of aid since 2002.
