European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 a the stars and stripes Friday december 11, 1992marines from Page 1 Aid through armed Force. More than 30,000 marines army troops and soldiers of other nations will be deployed in this crippled East african land. Until now Relief shipments have been routinely looted by armed bands of youths set Loose by two years of clan conflict. Some 300,000 people have died of starvation disease or warfare . Officials estimate and hundreds of thousands More Are at risk of starvation especially in the Interior. A a in be been waiting for this Day for so Long a Victor Tanner a Unicof worker said after the americans took charge of the Seaside Airfield. Although marines confiscated some automatic weapons from passing cars it appeared most of the teen agers who Nave terrorized Mogadishu from machine gun mounted vehicles had stowed their weapons or slipped out of town. Some sex gunmen lined up looking for More peaceful jobs with Aid agencies Relief officials said. But not All were taking a Low profile. Capt. Greg Horton a Marine helicopter Pilot who flew patrols Over the City wednesday said he saw flashes of gunfire but did not see the target. A the Only fire that was confirmed was last night near the embassy a Horton said. A a couple of tracer rounds were seen. There was no return  Marine spokesman col. Fred Peck also reported gunfire was heard late wednesday near the compound of the former . Embassy where marines Are bivouacked. It was not Clear whether the fire was directed at the embassy he said. At a checkpoint thursday a Man in a car raised a gun toward foreign legionnaires and one of the French soldiers fired a burst from his automatic weapon. The Man escaped. About 150 foreign legionnaires in Mogadishu Are the Vanguard of an expected 2,000 French troops. Other troops have been promised from a dozen nations including Canada Italy Egypt and Turkey. A Stream of c-5 and c-141 cargo aircraft landed at the Airport from Germany thursday bringing equipment to Supply the terminal with electricity communications and water according to Peck. Crowds of curious somalis flock around the soldiers. Thousands followed the Sand coloured . Marine armoured vehicles As they headed toward the old embassy on the City a outskirts. Halfway around the world in California hundreds of marines from the Camp Pendleton and Twenty nine Palms bases were airborne by late wednesday bound for East Africa. A Marine corps band blared a Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer As families fought off tears and bid the troops goodbye for the Holiday season. A they need him More than i do a one corporals wife said of the starving somalis. One of those arriving thursday was the operations . Field commander Marine it. Gen. Robert b. Johnston who was to set up Headquarters at the devastated . Embassy so compound. In Bairoa where the marines plan to go on saturday hundreds of somalis Are reported dying every Day. The City was once one of the country a agricultural centers. In Washington on wednesday Pentagon officials said clan fighting that erupted in Bairoa earlier this week had subsided. The Bairoa area is believed dominated by gunmen Loyal to aided a powerful warlord whose forces also control Southern Mogadishu. Presumably an airborne Marine Force might move into the area before the Marine led truck Convoy sets out on  mercy Mission to the City since nov. 11. On that Day a 34-truck Convoy was attacked with heavy loss of life. Here in Mogadishu the marines were to have Ridden Shotgun thursday for food trucks moving into the City a Northern Section. It would have been a first test of their humanitarian Mission but torrential Rains forced postponement of the Convoy until today. In a sign of even handedness the americans raised the stars and stripes on both sides of the capitals dividing line a at a . Liaison office in the aided controlled South and the former . Ambassadorial residence in the North run by aided a a rival Ali Mahdi. Weary of War and deprivation Many somalis seemed to Welcome the superpowers intervention. But not All. A some Are Happy. Some Are not Happy a said Marine Lance Cpl. Ben Gardner of Evansville ind. A some told me to go  at a glance -1 even though Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales arc separated speculation is raging Over the possibility., that Diana might eventually be Queen of England. See stories on Page 16. Prosecutors elated Iran Contra prosecutors say they won an important Victory wednesday with the conviction of former Cia spy chief Clair e. George for lying to Congress. A Page 5 7 miners bodies found rescuers on wednesday night found the bodies of seven of the eight miners missing More than a mile underground since a Coal mine explosion in Norton va., on monday. A Page 6 no Price surge seen. The Economy s sluggish recovery which curbed inflation this year will continue to restrain Price increases in 1993, a Survey suggests. Page 17 Index Abby Ann Landers 19 comics.19-21 commentary.13 crossword.19 faces a no places.18 letters.12 Money matters <.17 sports.22-28 to listings .27 weather .11 1 correction because of a source error an article wednesday gave the incorrect Dollar amount of monthly transactions and errors at merchants National Bank automated Teller machines in Germany the Netherlands and Greece. Merchants customers conduct $58.3 million in Cash withdrawals at the machines. Of that amount about $4,000 each month is considered Money lost through atm errors. In addition Federal Laws protect customers by requiring Banks to prove wrongdoing or refund to the customer whatever funds were lost As a result of an atm  from Page 1 they Are fired up a slate said. A so on fridays we try to get in Early get food into the feeding centers before the shoot and loot  despite the arrival of the marines to the somalian coast earlier this week slate said conditions in much of the country remain dangerous. A until there is a solidified american Eros Cnoc people can shoot you and not e held accountable for it a slate said. He said members of the clans fighting each other in Somalia and roving bands of smaller Lawless groups Are Well armed with soviet weapons left Over from the cold War Days. They include Small automatic weapons All the Way up to heavy food from Page 1 most of their supplies from Germany. The distribution centers place their main orders on the same Days with the defense personnel Center in Philadelphia which in turn makes the final order. The bulk order allows the Agency to get better prices for customers Moriyama said. Denise Gomes spokeswoman for the Agency a european Region said the distribution centers also allowed each store to order More frequently and merchandise to be sent quicker. However Brown said Between 30 percent and 40 percent of the orders he placed in october and november were rejected by the . Center and had to be reordered. A a it a the same All Over a said another commissary officer who asked not to be identified. That officer and one other said they were experiencing the same percentage of rejections. A third commissary officer said his store received fewer rejections. Moriyama noted that these percent Armor. A i saw them trying to hide two tanks under a Palm tree a slate said. He said life in Somalia operates on a Sharp Edge and can turn violent with Little apparent provocation especially when khat is involved. A in Somalia you can be with smiling people and it can All go to hell in a heartbeat a slate said. He said there is Little Protection from the gunmen except through similar or More deadly firepower. Flak jackets however Arentt much help. In one Case slate said a flak jacket proved fatal. A Relief worker was being guarded by a somali who was wearing a flak Vest slate said. The guard was summarily shot dead by another somali who wanted to see whether the jacket actually could Stop a Bullet. Ages could be misleading because they Only included items not on hand at the warehouse for instance. He said the percentages also did not show what was actually available on store shelves. Another commissary officer agreed that denial percentages could be misleading and said it would be better to talk about the percentages of Stock on shelves. Other figures show that since september stores have carried an average of 91 percent to 92 percent of the types of products they Are supposed to carry. A Small percentage of these items Are substitute brands said Shirley Marshall Central distribution manager for Agency a . District. When an order is denied stores can take an alternate Brand until a shipment of the preferred Brand arrives Saia Marshall who became manager in june. She said stores did not have to take an alternate Brand. Each store carries a different number of products based on its size. The largest stores Are to carry All 5,000 list items and the smallest about 2,000 items Moriyama said. A by and Large we Are providing people with the bulk of what they need a to a most of these people have Armor piercing ammunition a slate said. The task Force spokesman said the american aircraft involved in operation provide Relief and the personnel operate intentionally without weapons. A the safety of our food the planes and the Relief Agency workers on the ground is tied to our being aboard unarmed aircraft a he said. The task Force operates under the . Central come. It includes about 600 people from the Marine corps air Force and army special forces. The Force flies 10 air Force c-130s and can deliver enough food for 200,000 meals a Day. Slate said the airlifts will continue until Somalia a seaports roads and food centers Are open and secure and food supplies Are not interrupted. Iriyama said. Part of the centers problem in filling orders stemmed from an incorrect inventory taken in april Marshall said. That inventory has caused computer tallies for the balance of goods on hand to be out of sync with actual inventory. A new inventory will be taken before March she said. Marshall said that All of her orders to the United states were not filled immediately and that when placing them she had to anticipate what the . Stores would need three months in Advance. She said that required knowledge of the Market and recommendations from sales representatives. The Center is trying to get a handle on the Market because the pattern of orders from stores has change just in the time Marshall has been director. Marshall said store orders were beginning to even out now that most of them had depleted their warehouse stocks and were ordering All products from the Center. Moriyama said the warehouse could better Supply the remaining stores As draw Downs continue. The facility was built to Supply the Lakenheath commissary Only