Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993 TAG: 9302140164
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA LENGTH: Medium
U.S. OPTIMISM RISES IN SOMALIA
U.S. command of international forces in Somalia could pass to the United Nations within weeks, a U.N. spokesman said Saturday, and most American forces could be home by late April.The news came as military officials expressed increasing confidence that Operation Restore Hope, now in its third month, could be handed over to U.N. command. The U.S.-led military coalition has quelled most of the clan violence that had made it nearly impossible for relief workers to feed millions of starving Somalis.
The international force continues to face gunfire and seize weapons, however. Shootouts left two Somalis wounded on Friday, and Italian troops sweeping through a Mogadishu neighborhood on Saturday uncovered arms including more than 100 grenades, 12,000 detonators and four missiles.
Farouk Mawlawi, the spokesman for U.N. operations in Somalia, said U.S. forces could hand over the international operation to a U.N. commander in a matter of weeks.
He said U.N. peacekeepers would need authorization from the Security Council to use force to maintain order in Somalia, a policy that would be unprecedented for a U.N. peacekeeping force.
"We couldn't have the traditional peacekeeping operation," Mawlawi said, adding that he expected Security Council approval when it takes up the issue this week.
A U.S. military spokesman said most of the 19,000 American troops and support personnel could head home before May.
"Looking at our timeline, that's perhaps technically feasible by mid- to late April," said Marine Col. Fred Peck. "That's presupposing everything happens in quick succession," starting with the Security Council action, he added.
In Washington, President Clinton said he was encouraged by the reported timetable.
"This does need to go from a U.S. mission to a U.N. mission," Clinton said.
Coalition forces from 22 other nations number 14,000. Officials are proposing a U.N.-led force of about 20,000 troops, including at least 3,000 Americans.
Meanwhile Saturday, the international force continued to seize weapons.
Italian forces raided homes and shops in a neighborhood in northeast Mogadishu and found weapons hidden under bags of rice, blankets and furniture, said Army Capt. Ed Loomis, a U.S. military spokesman.
The stashes included 25 rifles, 22 heavy weapons, 103 hand grenades, 12,000 electronic detonators, 26 artillery and mortar shells, and two TOW missiles, he said.