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World IN BRIEF : SOMALIA : U.S. Pulls Diplomats as Fighting Rages

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

The United States began withdrawing most of its diplomats from Mogadishu as clan fighting rocked the Somali capital for a third straight day. The United Nations said casualties were heavy, and a U.N. official estimated that 30 people died in the first two days of clashes. Many of the victims were thought to be civilians caught in cross-fire. The State Department ordered the temporary evacuation of about 20 members of the U.S. liaison office, which performs the functions of an embassy in a country that has been without a government for more than three years.

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