A BOMB went off outside a shopping mall in the Turkish Mediterranean port city of Mersin yesterday, injuring at least eight people, private NTV television reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Radical Kurdish, Islamic and leftwing militants are active in Turkey.

The explosion was caused by a remotecontrolled bomb in which an explosive device was connected to a mobile telephone, said Governor Huseyin Aksoy, according to Dogan News Agency.

The blast shattered the windows of several stores including some jewellery shops and damaged an ice cream stall, but apparently did not cause severe damage, footage from Dogan News Agency showed.

Mersin is some 280 miles south of Ankara, the Turkish capital.

Nuclear resolution possible, says Iran

IRANIAN Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday that a breakthrough over Tehran's nuclear programme was possible, and welcomed unconditional talks with all parties, including the United States.

"We think that if there is good will, a breakthrough to get out of a situation they (the European Union and United States) have created for themselves. . . is possible, " Mottaki told a press conference.

Six world powers agreed on Thursday to offer Iran a new package of incentives if it gives up uranium enrichment, or sanctions if it refuses. The gambit could either defuse a global confrontation with Iran or hasten one.

The US warned Iran on Friday that it would not have much time to respond to the international package of rewards, suggesting that the window could close and be replaced by penalties if the Islamic republic doesn't react fast.

Somali protesters denounce US

A MUSLIM leader called Washington an enemy of Islam during a protest that drew thousands in Somalia's war-torn capital Mogadishu, where Islamic militias have been battling a secular alliance for power.

The demonstration came amid some of the worst fighting in 15 years of anarchy in Somalia, which has not had an effective government since 1991.

Eleven people were killed in the capital's northern suburbs yesterday and four people died in the city when a booby-trapped bicycle exploded. Nearly 100 people have died in Mogadishu since 24 May.

"We know the enemy of Islam, particularly the US government, is funding the evil alliance, " Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, said during the protest, which drew 5,000 people.