Somali Leaflets Urge Attacks on U.S. Troops; U.N. Asks Removal of Italian General

Militiamen fired on U.N. headquarters and other sites Wednesday, hours after Somali militants distributed leaflets calling for revenge attacks on American soldiers.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Aid programs were at a virtual standstill in Mogadishu, and relief efforts in famished rural areas also were halted because of the gun battles in the city, aid agency officials said.

In another sign of trouble for its Somalia mission, the United Nations asked Italy to remove the Italian general in charge of the 2,400 Italian troops stationed in Somalia for not following orders, the head of U.N. peacekeeping operations, Kofi Annan, told reporters in New York. Annan declined to say how Gen. Bruno Loi had defied U.N. command.

The main U.N. headquarters complex came under attack Wednesday night by what appeared to be mortars, grenades and shoulder-fired rocket launchers. Flares were fired from the compound, and machine gun and small arms fire could be heard from the vicinity of positions held by Egyptian peacekeepers. U.S. helicopters took to the skies but withheld fire.

Near-anarchy has reigned in the streets since Monday, when U.N. forces blasted an alleged command center belonging to gunmen loyal to fugitive warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. Four foreign journalists died after a mob turned on them in retaliation.

The leaflets said Muslim militants were preparing to attack U.S. forces that have spearheaded attacks on clan strongholds loyal to Aidid. It urged Muslims worldwide to stage reprisals against Americans.