The highlight of the picture, the pirated video version of which "premiered" in Mogadishu cinemas on Tuesday, is the shooting down by Somali fighters of two US Black Hawk helicopters on October 3, 1993.

"The film is stupid and presents Somali leaders and fighters as inhuman," said Mohamed Said Abdulle, one of the gunmen who took part in the battle that claimed the lives of 18 US soldiers and hundreds of Somalis. "The fighting in Mogadishu was a legitimate defense against foreign domination," he added.

He said the movie could be a gimmick to prepare the American public for another US military strike against Somalia, a country where, according to Washington, terrorists might have found a safe haven. In one of Mogadishu's makeshift cinemas, youths cheered the scene showing a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Somali gunmen hit one of the helicopters.

"The Americans killed hundreds of our people on that day, but they still talk about 18 of their servicemen," Abdulle said.

Another ex-gunman said the film had played down the role of Malaysian and Pakistani troops who went to the rescue of pinned-down American Rangers.

"If the Malaysian troops who also lost soldiers and armored vehicles did not arrive to save the Americans, casualties would have been higher on both sides," said the former militiaman, who now runs a shop.

For Ahmed Omar Jess, one of the commanders in the Somali National Alliance, the movie is "just a matter of history."

"We have no problem with the US," said Jess, one of the warlords hunted by the US soldiers at that time. "It was a beautiful piece of art. I appreciated what they (moviemakers) did despite the errors. They need to consult before hand to make the film more realistic," said a moviegoer.

Copyright © 2002 AFP

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