Bush Tries to Round Up Support for Somalia Force : Diplomacy: President asks allied leaders to contribute troops to back up Americans on proposed mercy mission.

President Bush launched a round of personal diplomacy Friday in an effort to persuade allies to join the United States in assembling a multinational military force to ensure delivery of food aid to starving Somalis.

A day after the United States offered to supply 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops to a U.N.-sponsored military operation, Bush spent several hours telephoning the leaders of allied countries to solicit support for the U.S. plan. Officials would not say which leaders the President called.

The White House said Bush is asking allies to contribute troops to the proposed force, which would try to beat back Somali warlords blocking and looting aid shipments, and is seeking the political support of those nations for the U.S. plan.

The United Nations estimates that about 300,000 people have died since the famine in Somalia began, and relief workers warn that between 1 million and 2 million more may be at risk if food supplies are not distributed soon.

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the United States hopes to complete initial consultations with the allies and with U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali before the U.N. Security Council meets to consider the offer, probably next week.

“Right now, the focus is on the diplomatic effort, and that’s going to play out in New York over the next day or two,” Fitzwater told reporters in an impromptu briefing at Portland’s airport before heading for the President’s vacation home in Kennebunkport.

“The President . . . is managing the situation,” Fitzwater added. “He’s calling a lot of people in this country and around the world.”

At the same time in New York, Boutros-Ghali met with senior U.N. officials to discuss the wording of the new Security Council resolution, which for the first time would authorize the use of military force inside Somalia. The council met for informal consultations Friday but reached no conclusions.

Expectations are that the council will accept the U.S. offer and urge other major nations to contribute troops, but the terms that the council would set for the effort have not been worked out.

The Bush Administration is willing to start the military operation with only modest help from allied forces but wants commitments that other governments will send replacements soon so that U.S. troops are not forced to remain in the country for an extended period. It used a similar formula in launching Operation Desert Storm to push Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in 1991.

As in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. plan calls for the use of American ground units as well as naval and air cover, under the command of an American general.

Somalia’s most powerful warlord, Gen. Mohammed Farrah Aidid, said Friday that he welcomed the U.S. proposal, contending that it would help him to consolidate power under his Somali National Alliance party. In an hourlong press conference, Aidid, who previously has opposed any foreign intervention, said the new U.S. initiative, combined with the political platform developed by his party, “can put Somalia on solid ground from which to prosper, economically, politically and socially.”

But political observers cautioned that Aidid’s statements did not necessarily mean that the general would cooperate with U.S. or allied forces, and they added that the situation in Somalia is fraught with uncertainties.

Here in Kennebunkport, Bush spent part of the morning being briefed by his national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, taking some time out for a quick game of golf before resuming his work later in the afternoon.

In Washington, Acting Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger began formal consultations with allied governments and top U.N. officials over details of a possible diplomatic and military plan. It was Eagleburger who broached the U.S. offer to Boutros-Ghali on Wednesday.

Administration officials said Friday that Marine Gen. Jay Hoar, commander of the U.S. Central Command, whose jurisdiction covers the Somalia area, has been asked to draw up preliminary recommendations for military operations but is not expected to complete the job for several days.

The Pentagon declined to discuss details of the proposed military operation, pending action by the Security Council. On Thursday, Pentagon officials said a 6,000-member rapid-deployment force was standing by at Ft. Bragg, N.C., with 12,000 more troops able to follow in a few days.

Officials also said about 2,000 Marines are on ships in the Indian Ocean, where they could be moved quickly to Somalia. They said contingency plans have been worked out broadly but that details would not be made public until it was clear whether the United Nations would go along with the plan.

Western relief officials appeared split over the prospect of having U.S. troops guarding humanitarian aid convoys. While some hailed the move as a bold step, others expressed fears that a U.S. presence could lead to reprisals against all outsiders, including relief workers.

Fitzwater, however, dismissed such fears as “difficult to understand,” asserting that aid efforts have gone on unprotected for months and are being blocked by the warlords, who are stealing or destroying about 80% of relief supplies.

“The relief agencies have done a good job,” he told reporters. “If they have other solutions, I think the U.N. is ready to listen to them.”

The Bush Administration said it proposed its new plan because Boutros-Ghali had complained about lack of funds to help guarantee the distribution of food aid in Somalia. The Security Council authorized sending about 3,000 troops there a few months ago, but so far only about 655 Pakistani soldiers are in Somalia and they have not been deployed out of Mogadishu, the capital.

THE STRUGGLE IN SOMALIA

The U.S. troop offer was made after weeks of mounting frustration that a massive international effort to feed starving Somalis has largely failed:

Background: Somalia disintegrated into anarchy when warlords turned on each other after overthrowing former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in January, 1991. The famine that followed the war has killed an estimated 300,000 people and threatens the lives of millions more.

In the past week: A Pakistani soldier was seriously wounded in an ambush in Mogadishu, a U.N. ship carrying grain was hit by shell fire as it entered Mogadishu port, and U.N. officials were robbed at gunpoint in Kismayo. On Wednesday, the United States offered to send up to 30,000 troops to help guarantee supplies reach the starving.

U.S. forces on the move

A group of American ships with 2,000 Marines are headed for Middle East waters near Somalia.

The naval task force includes:

* Amphibious assault ship Tripoli

* Amphibious transport dock ship Juneau

* Combat equipment-carrying ship Jack Lummus

* Dock landing ship Rushmore.

* 16 Harrier fighter aircraft

Arsenal: The ships are carrying tanks, 155millimeter howitzers, four AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and a dozen cargo helicopters.

Training: Marines in the unit have undergone intensive training in securing airports, beachheads and ports, evacuating American citizens, conducting counterterrorist operations and providing humanitarian assistance.

Sources: Times staff and wire reports