Bush Hails Troops for Aiding Somalis : Africa: President visits forces, clinic, is greeted by Mogadishu-area residents. But a nighttime artillery duel between clans underscores issue of disarming militias.

President Bush whisked into Somalia on Thursday to inspect the U.S.-led program to feed the hungry and to praise American troops for helping to bring peace to this war- and famine-racked country.

But hours after he completed the first day of his visit, rival militias in Mogadishu rang in the New Year by raining artillery fire on each other in the most serious such exchange since U.S. Marines landed Dec. 9.

The clashes broke out about 9 p.m. when Bush was already safely aboard the Navy assault ship Tripoli, where he slept for about five hours.

The battle, which lasted two hours, is sure to revive the debate over whether the United States and other countries occupying parts of Somalia should aggressively disarm the clan militias that have terrorized the country during two years of civil war. Nearly all the weaponry here remains in the hands of the militias, on the U.S.-imposed condition that it not be used and that fighters be kept off the streets.

Thursday’s artillery duel marred a day on which Bush was hailed as the virtual leader of a leaderless country.

Thousands of Somalis gathered outside the barbed-wire gates of the airport here to catch a glimpse of the President as he stepped from a big C-141 transport jet and into a Marine helicopter. Some in the crowd held aloft makeshift American flags and portraits of Bush printed up by followers of one of the two major militias, which, until a month ago, fought for control of the dusty, impoverished city.

Bush was met by Lt. Gen. Robert B. Johnston, commander of the joint force of Americans and troops from other countries that have fanned out to protect the distribution of food to starving Somalis.

“You have made our day,” Johnston told Bush.

“You,” the President replied, “have made the day for the country with this fantastic service. We are very proud of this humanitarian service.”

After addressing Marines inside a headquarters compound, Bush traveled by helicopter west of Mogadishu to the grounds of a hospital that houses more than 4,000 refugees, some still dying of hunger despite medical aid and rescue efforts.

Standing among the huts and tents in a desolate scrub landscape, children loudly chanted, “Welcome President Bush!” and presented him with bunches of bougainvillea. Bush entered a clinic to see some of the skeletal children whose plight has drawn worldwide sympathy.

“We are seeing recovery here,” Bush said. “Most of these children . . . they told me were literally starving two months ago.”

Before Bush’s arrival, Mogadishu’s streets were busy with women in colorful shawls selling mangoes, grapefruit and bananas. At midday, the city took on a festive air as Bush’s arrival approached. It was definitely George Bush country in the Somali capital.

“Bush is good for Somalia. We are tired of violence, and he is the only big leader who can stop it,” said Mohammed Hussein, a barber. Three waiting customers in his roadside shed agreed, giving the thumbs-up sign.

But many Mogadishu residents said they wished that the American troops, now numbering 18,000, would pursue and disarm the gunmen who still possess arms ranging from pistols to heavy artillery. “They need to hit the gangs and get rid of them,” said Mohammed Ali, a self-described mechanic who went to the airport for Bush’s arrival.

The artillery blasts that lit up the sky north of Mogadishu on Thursday night underscored the point. Machine gun fire could also be heard.

Artillery exchanges were common features of the Somali civil war until March, when two major clan leaders, Ali Mahdi Mohamed and Mohammed Farah Aidid, signed a truce. Under American pressure, the two biggest clans in the city had agreed to stop fighting and keep their militia off the streets.

But at least two clans, including a smaller one left out of the agreement, apparently waged Thursday’s two-hour firefight over an arms cache, U.S. military analysts said. The smaller group also has been subject to attack by Aidid’s clan. Neighborhoods under its control were lost, and this clan may have been trying to recover some battered apartment blocks.

Neither American forces nor allied units from other countries were involved in Thursday’s clash, said Marine Col. Fred Peck, the U.S. military spokesman. “It is not the first fight we’ve seen since we’ve been here, but it is the largest,” he said.

American military officials expressed alarm at the possible effects the combat might have on public opinion when shown on television in the United States. “I don’t think this reflects one way or the other on our mission,” said Peck, who referred to the skirmish as a “fairly dramatic sound and light show.”

Earlier in the day, Marines shot at looters who were ripping into supplies delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross. There were no reports of injuries, a military spokesman said.

The American military and State Department diplomats in Somalia have been grappling with the question of whether to disarm the militias that terrorized the city and countryside for much of the past two years.

Thursday, American commanders decided to have troops confiscate any “technicals”--the militia “Mad Max” war wagons--that appear on the street. The vehicles, often little more than pickup trucks rigged with machine guns or recoilless rifles, are manned by gang members.

Weapons--including artillery--kept by militia in restricted compounds were exempted under Thursday’s decision. It is unclear whether the New Year’s Eve confrontation will alter American policy.

Somalis are still permitted to carry small arms and rifles publicly “for their own protection,” said Col. Mike Agee, a military spokesman who noted that no house-to-house searches are planned.

Thursday’s fighting also served to underscore the fragility of American efforts to restore local government. Civilian councils are being set up in eight zones, which have been occupied by American and international forces.

American officials insist that the councils are self-starting; they want them to take advantage of the protection offered by foreign armies to restore order in their towns. In Baidoa, for example, a council of elders, Muslim clerics, lawyers, teachers and other professionals has barred weapons from their town and is taking up issues of food distribution, health and sanitation. Militia representatives may join but they may not use their weapons to influence decisions, U.S. officials say.

The effect of this structure is to either force the gangs out of urban areas or restrict them to camps; in effect, the U.S.-led forces create a weight that tips the scale of power away from the militias.

In the southern coastal town of Kismayu, gunmen commanded by local clan leader Omar Jess were expelled from the town after being “cornered” in a compound by U.S. Marines, a military spokesman said. “I guess you can say they were negotiated into staying off the streets,” said one American official.

The decision to let Jess keep his weapons was controversial. In early December, his men systematically killed more than 100 leading members of an opposition clan after pulling them out of their homes, Western observers say.

Jess still is being permitted to send a representative to the embryonic Kismayu council, although it is unclear whether he has done so. Opposing clan members have been slow to join the effort for fear of exposing themselves to more brutality.

In any event, U.S. officials are careful to say they do not select local leaders. The councils are open to broad memberships, they say. No such local government has been set up in Mogadishu. But several important government functions have been taken away from the clans, including the operation of the port and airport; this robs clan leaders of sources of income.

Before arriving in Somalia, Bush stopped in Saudi Arabia for a brief meeting with King Fahd. Saudi Arabia has become a key ally in the Middle East. “This (stop was) to say goodby and to stress the strength of the U.S.-Saudi alliance,” a Bush aide told reporters.