Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 7, 1993 TAG: 9304070223
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA LENGTH: Medium
MARINE CONVICTED IN SOMALIA
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Harry Conde had wiped away the tears, but the shock and sorrow were still clear after his court-martial conviction Tuesday."It's just ironic how you come to restore hope. Who's going to restore my hope?" he said.
Conde, 33, arrived in Somalia on Jan. 6, less than a month after a U.S.-led coalition began Operation Restore Hope.
On Tuesday, he sat a convicted felon, busted in rank and fined $1,706. A court-martial board found him guilty of aggravated assault and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Conde said he was reacting to an uncertain threat Feb. 2 when he fired a 40mm buckshot round at Ahmed Abdi Omar. The 13-year-old, who according to testimony had been trying to steal items from moving cars all day, had reached into Conde's vehicle as it slowed.
Conde and his Humvee's driver, Lance Cpl. Chad Rivet, testified that a hand slapped over Conde's eyes, snapping his head back. When the hand pulled back, Conde's sunglasses were gone.
Conde turned his M-79 grenade launcher backward out the window and fired. Omar was hit in the abdomen and underwent surgery to have a section of perforated colon removed. Several pellets also hit Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, 17, in the arm as he ate a grapefruit.
At issue was whether Conde fired on the spur of the moment, fearing for his safety on Mogadishu's dangerous streets, or whether the shot came as Omar was fleeing and was fired in revenge.
Perhaps the most damaging testimony came from Conde, who admitted that after the incident he said to Rivet:
"Those . . . took my glasses. They must have a hell of a headache." The two men then laughed.