Fear of Backlash Cut Somalia Action Short : Africa: Attacks on warlord were called off early. It was apparent attempt to head off public relations nightmare.

The massive U.N. ground and air assault on a Somali warlord’s neighborhood last week was originally planned as a three-day operation but was cut short after the first day, apparently because of top-level fears of a public relations backlash in the United States and Europe, a U.N. official revealed Sunday.

The operation, televised worldwide, was designed to destroy the headquarters and firepower of Mohammed Farah Aidid, whom the United Nations blames for the deadly June 5 attack on Pakistani soldiers, and to send a clear signal of U.N. resolve to Somalia’s faction leaders.

The strike last Thursday on Aidid’s neighborhood was the fiercest of a series of attacks on weapons sites in Mogadishu in the past weeks.

But the show of force, which was criticized by some American politicians as “an attempt to kill a gnat with a sledgehammer,” was curtailed after 18 hours on orders from U.N. headquarters in New York, according to a top-level U.N. official, who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity.

That decision reflected growing concern among U.N. and U.S. officials here that while they may be beginning to win the uphill battle to save this gritty country from famine and anarchy, the high-tech maneuvers--and a cunning propaganda campaign by Aidid--may be costing them international support.

The American liaison office here, which has kept a low profile since the United States handed over the operation to the United Nations last month, took the unusual step over the weekend of issuing an eight-page, single-spaced news release, stridently defending U.N. military operations against Aidid and complaining that international reporting “and comments by some political leaders and academics” had been unfairly slanted against the United Nations.

“The story getting out is, unfortunately, inaccurate,” Robert T. Gosende, the chief American envoy in Somalia, said in an interview. He contended that the media have swallowed Aidid’s propaganda and glossed over the warlord’s crimes.

“The outside world thinks this guy has a major following,” Gosende added. “But, inside Somalia, most people will be delighted to see this guy gone.”

U.N. commanders say the massive air attacks on Aidid’s militia have ended for now. Retired Navy Adm. Jonathan Howe, who heads the U.N. operation here, has ordered his troops to arrest Aidid, but he says maintaining law and order and restarting food relief deliveries to Somalis in southern Mogadishu remain the top U.N. priority.

Officials say privately that they know Aidid is holed up in a residential neighborhood of Mogadishu, surrounded by his gunmen. But they are reluctant to launch a ground attack to apprehend him for fear of civilian casualties.

On Sunday, relief efforts resumed peacefully at two of 20 food distribution sites in southern Mogadishu, guarded by U.N. troops from the United Arab Emirates.

A plan to resume distribution at nine other sites in the area was postponed until today because Pakistani troops, who have borne the brunt of Aidid’s attacks, wanted more time to look over the sites. Some of them said they fear coming under sniper fire, a U.N. spokesman said.

The new American public relations counteroffensive is designed to answer critics of the U.N. operation who have expressed concern that anti-U.N. sentiment is growing in Mogadishu after the June 13 clash with Pakistani soldiers that left at least 14 Somali demonstrators dead.

American diplomats believe that the massacre of Pakistani soldiers, which focused world attention again on this country, has been unfairly overshadowed by the deaths of the anti-U.N. protesters.

In a statement on Saturday, the U.S. liaison office in Mogadishu recounted the June 5 attacks on U.N. forces, applauding “Pakistani bravery” in the face of “Aidid barbarism.” The Pakistanis were assaulted at several locations, including two feeding stations where they were surrounded by crowds. Twenty-four of the soldiers died.

For weeks before, in messages on his radio station and in pamphlets that have showered the city, Aidid had called for the United Nations, and especially the United States, to leave the country. Analysts believe Aidid chose to launch the attacks when it became clear that U.N. plans for a negotiated political settlement in Somalia were likely to prevent him from seizing power in the country.

Time was certainly running out for Aidid. The United Nations had announced that its troop strength, now at 18,000, was due to rise soon to 28,000, and military commanders had vowed to use the additional forces to step up efforts to disarm Mogadishu.

By targeting the Pakistanis, who are the least popular U.N. forces among many ordinary Somalis, Aidid may have been hoping to increase his support base. And analysts think Aidid was gambling that a U.N. blood bath would trigger a popular uprising and, eventually, a U.N. pullout.

A week later, the warlord’s cause got a boost when the Pakistanis fired on the pro-Aidid protesters, putting the United Nations under intense criticism for what was seen as an act of retribution.

But subsequent U.N. investigations, cited by the American diplomats, indicate Aidid’s militia may have triggered that incident. The United Nations says snipers in the vicinity, and others hiding behind women and children in the demonstration, had opened fire first on the Pakistanis. And the investigation, corroborated by some witnesses, suggests that Aidid’s gunmen may also have fired on civilians in an attempt to increase the death toll and embarrass the United Nations.

The U.N. response, including the attack on Aidid’s headquarters and his radio station last Thursday, was “forceful and direct,” Adm. Howe said.

No one knows for sure how many Somalis died in the bombings and ground clashes on Thursday. Some analysts place the death toll as high as 100, and they say it was probably evenly divided between civilians and guerrillas. Five U.N. soldiers were killed during the 18-hour operation, and 140 Somalis were arrested.

The United Nations also has been criticized for opening fire later Thursday on Digfer Hospital, which the snipers were using to attack U.N. soldiers. Two Moroccan soldiers died in the firefight at the hospital, and U.N. officials attribute those deaths, in part, to the reluctance of the Moroccan commander on the scene to open fire on a facility housing several thousand civilians.

American diplomats say an investigation into the hospital shooting indicates that the hospital gun battle occurred after a Moroccan patrol was surrounded by a crowd of 1,000 Somali demonstrators. The Moroccan patrol leader refused to fire at first, but his unit was caught in snipers’ cross-fire.