Somalia Reconstruction

At the Dayx livestock market here, 60- year-old Ali Omalia is performing an act seldom seen in this war-ravaged capital. He's paying taxes, the equivalent of about 50 cents, on a camel he bought to slaughter. In another era, Omalia might have been like any other grumbling taxpayer.

At the Dayx livestock market here, 60- year-old Ali Omalia is performing an act seldom seen in this war-ravaged capital. He's paying taxes, the equivalent of about 50 cents, on a camel he bought to slaughter. In another era, Omalia might have been like any other grumbling taxpayer.

THE WHITE-ROBED SURGEON, AWEYS ABDI OMAR, hands covered in blood, was cutting into the abdomen of a Somali man in Mogadishu's Digfer Hospital when half a dozen armed men burst into the operating room, carrying a moaning figure in their arms. "Doctor, you have to leave that one," they said, pointing to the anesthetized patient on the table. "Our brother has been shot." "But this patient may die if I leave," Omar protested. "Your brother is not hurt badly. He will have to wait."

About 350 U.S. Marines have landed in northern Somalia to help local officials rebuild roads and a burned-out school and orphanage as part of continuing humanitarian relief and training efforts, Pentagon officials said Thursday. The deployment, dubbed Operation Open Hand, is an extension of earlier relief efforts by the U.S. military to secure deliveries of food and supplies to starving people in war-ravaged Somalia.

Few doubted that Gutalle, the Bandit of Baidoa, had lived up to his name. He was the chief of extortion at Baidoa airport, shaking down international relief agencies for hundreds of thousands of dollars in protection money as they sought to feed Somalia's starving millions. He killed at least 32 people, among them 17 women and children whom he mowed down in broad daylight with a battle-wagon outfitted with razor-blade bumpers.

Until a few weeks ago, Haji Shekhey Abdi's people were starving to death. Civil war combatants had stolen their cattle, their tractors and their food. Terrorized villagers were afraid to work in the fields or take their produce to market. But Abdi, his four children, six grandchildren and the rest of the village recently brought in a crop of corn, their first in two years. As they have for centuries, they thanked the God of Islam. But this year they also thanked the United States.

About 350 U.S. Marines have landed in northern Somalia to help local officials rebuild roads and a burned-out school and orphanage as part of continuing humanitarian relief and training efforts, Pentagon officials said Thursday. The deployment, dubbed Operation Open Hand, is an extension of earlier relief efforts by the U.S. military to secure deliveries of food and supplies to starving people in war-ravaged Somalia.

The Security Council voted Friday to set up the largest and most powerful peacekeeping force in U.N. history to feed the starving, end fighting and rebuild Somalia. The decision to send 28,000 troops to the African nation will be welcome news to American soldiers who have been patrolling Somalia since December and were frustrated that former President George Bush's prediction of a quick in-and-out operation proved to be overoptimistic. Under an ambitious U.S.

After 31 years as an air-traffic control expert with the Federal Aviation Administration, Ernie Wickersham was peacefully retired in Plainfield, Ind., giving a few flying lessons, running a charter occasionally and generally enjoying the peace and quiet of his golden years. Then the United Nations called with a golden opportunity: the chance to rebuild an international airport in the most devastated land on the globe.

Each day he awakened in a prison cell in Somalia, Omar Mohallim wondered if this would be the day he would die. The repressive government of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre had confiscated his land, taken his money and accused him of betraying the state in 1969, all without filing formal charges or presenting evidence, he recalled this week. "With this kind of regime you don't ask the charges," said Mohallim, who became the first Somalian ambassador to the United States in 1960.

After 31 years as an air-traffic control expert with the Federal Aviation Administration, Ernie Wickersham was peacefully retired in Plainfield, Ind., giving a few flying lessons, running a charter occasionally and generally enjoying the peace and quiet of his golden years. Then the United Nations called with a golden opportunity: the chance to rebuild an international airport in the most devastated land on the globe.

Few doubted that Gutalle, the Bandit of Baidoa, had lived up to his name. He was the chief of extortion at Baidoa airport, shaking down international relief agencies for hundreds of thousands of dollars in protection money as they sought to feed Somalia's starving millions. He killed at least 32 people, among them 17 women and children whom he mowed down in broad daylight with a battle-wagon outfitted with razor-blade bumpers.

THE WHITE-ROBED SURGEON, AWEYS ABDI OMAR, hands covered in blood, was cutting into the abdomen of a Somali man in Mogadishu's Digfer Hospital when half a dozen armed men burst into the operating room, carrying a moaning figure in their arms. "Doctor, you have to leave that one," they said, pointing to the anesthetized patient on the table. "Our brother has been shot." "But this patient may die if I leave," Omar protested. "Your brother is not hurt badly. He will have to wait."

The Security Council voted Friday to set up the largest and most powerful peacekeeping force in U.N. history to feed the starving, end fighting and rebuild Somalia. The decision to send 28,000 troops to the African nation will be welcome news to American soldiers who have been patrolling Somalia since December and were frustrated that former President George Bush's prediction of a quick in-and-out operation proved to be overoptimistic. Under an ambitious U.S.

Until a few weeks ago, Haji Shekhey Abdi's people were starving to death. Civil war combatants had stolen their cattle, their tractors and their food. Terrorized villagers were afraid to work in the fields or take their produce to market. But Abdi, his four children, six grandchildren and the rest of the village recently brought in a crop of corn, their first in two years. As they have for centuries, they thanked the God of Islam. But this year they also thanked the United States.

Each day he awakened in a prison cell in Somalia, Omar Mohallim wondered if this would be the day he would die. The repressive government of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre had confiscated his land, taken his money and accused him of betraying the state in 1969, all without filing formal charges or presenting evidence, he recalled this week. "With this kind of regime you don't ask the charges," said Mohallim, who became the first Somalian ambassador to the United States in 1960.

Brig. Gen. Ikram ul-Hasan, a strapping Pakistani infantry commander, leaned on the podium at U.S. military headquarters in Somalia and, in crisp British English, announced to the world that it was "a great honor and privilege" for him and his 4,761 Pakistani soldiers to take over responsibility for security and stability here in the Somali capital from the U.S. Marines.