Command in Somalia May Pass to U.N. Within Weeks

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.

The New York Times reported Saturday that the new force would consist of 15,000 to 20,000 soldiers from various countries, with up to 5,000 American troops left behind under the command of a Turkish officer.

Somalis and other Arabs have said they want a Muslim to oversee the relief effort. Turkey is both Islamic and a NATO ally.

Mawlawi 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 next week.