Paris AFP (in English) — 0858 GMT, 9 Dec. 1992

(By David Chazan)

[Excerpts] Mogadishu — U.S. Marines, who staged a spectacular landing at Mogadishu port and airport Wednesday, were accused of heavy-handed treatment of Somalis and journalists covering the high-profile intervention. Marines screaming obscenities dragged unarmed Somalis found sleeping in an airport hangar out into the open and forced them to lie face down while their hands were tied with plastic handcuffs.

Racketeering gunmen occupying the airport had mostly left after radio warnings from Mogadishu’s two rival warlords, Mohamed Farah Aideed and Ali Mahdi Mohamed, to stay away from the marines here as the advance party of a massive multinational force to ensure safe delivery of food to Somalia’s starving millions. (passage omitted)

Issa Hassan, who said he was an airport employee, complained that he had been kicked by marines who secured the airport after an amphibious landing. Marines arrived by helicopter at the port and fired over the heads of dozens of waiting journalists they ordered to lie face down. They then confiscated arms from gunmen who tried to hide their weapons in scores of battered containers on the quayside, many with bullet holes from previous gunbattles. (passage omitted)

The marines later released many of the Somalis at the airport. But Captain Tim Miller said some were still being held, though he did not know how many. “People who we are not able to identify are being detained,” Miller said.

Ahmed Mohamed Arale, one of the chiefs of the Hawadle clan, which occupied the airport after Siad Barre fell, complained:

“They (the Marines) should come in more gently. We were welcoming them. We didn’t come with guns.”

A relief worker who declined to be named said:

“I expected clapping and cheering when they came in, but the Somalis look sullen. This was unnecessary and it could cause a backlash.”

Mohamed Urdoh, a Somali journalist, said the marines should take “appropriate action to avoid clashes with Somalis.” But he added:

“They must not make any unnecessary harassment. If they act like an invading force Somalis will create trouble.”

A few hours after the Marines landed three helicopter gunships circled south Mogadishu, flying about 50 metres (150 feet) above rooftops with machineguns and missile launchers protruding from their sides. (passage omitted)