5 Somalis Die in Kismayu Clashes

Five Somalis were killed Friday in the southern Somali port of Kismayu, four of them in gun battles with Belgian troops, the U.S. military said.

The fifth Somali died in renewed clan clashes in the port, the spokesman, Marine Col. Fred Peck, told reporters.

He also announced that Kismayu’s rival warlords, Mohamed Siad Hirsi, known as Gen. Morgan, and Omar Jess, volunteered to hand over more weapons to the U.S.-led task force today.

Peck said the United States is going ahead with plans to withdraw 1,000 troops from Kismayu. The 700 Belgian troops will take over policing of the city after the Americans leave Sunday.

The pullout was held back last week after clashes.

In other developments Friday:

* Robert T. Gosende, a career diplomat who has served twice in Mogadishu, was named by the State Department to succeed Robert B. Oakley as the U.S. special envoy in Somalia. Oakley’s deputy, John Hirsch, will be in charge until Gosende arrives.

* Retired Adm. Jonathan Howe, a former deputy White House national security adviser, was named as the U.N. secretary general’s special representative for Somalia.

* The human rights group Africa Watch charged the United States and the United Nations with ignoring the crimes of Somalia’s warlords.