No Security Breach Seen in Somalia Document Snafu

U.S. intelligence documents were mishandled by both U.N. and American officials during the military pullout from Somalia, but no major security breach seems to have occurred, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

But U.S. officials demanded “corrective action,” saying they cannot be certain that some type of security leak did not occur in the release of documents to the U.N. Operation in Somalia, or UNOSOM.

Improvements must be made in the way U.S. military officials share secrets with the United Nations, the officials added.

U.S. officials came upon classified material Feb. 27 that had been left in an unguarded room inside the U.N. compound in the Somali capital of Mogadishu that was about to be abandoned.

Some of the material was destroyed on the spot, but a “sample” of the material was taken by military officials for investigation, said a senior Defense Department official.