WASHINGTON INSIGHT

LOW BLOW? Shortly after a two-day trip to deliver aid to starving Somalians, heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe received a note from President Clinton, praising his “generosity and kindness.” But Ambassador Robert Oakley, the special U.S. envoy to Somalia who for three months endured cramped quarters in the gutted U.S. Embassy during the military operation there, hasn’t heard boo from Clinton since his return in March. Although friends are appalled at the slight, Oakley tosses it off, saying he had a “good conversation” with Vice President Al Gore, and “the Oval Office is focused on domestic affairs.”