Marine Pleads Guilty to Beating Vendor in Somalia : Military: Camp Pendleton private gets two-month sentence. Gen. Colin Powell is scheduled to visit forces today.

MOGADISHU, Somalia â€”  A U.S. Marine pleaded guilty Saturday during a court-martial on charges of theft and assault for grabbing a vendor’s canes and hitting the man when he gave chase.

Pfc. Larry T. Thomas of Maricopa County, Ariz., was sentenced to two months of confinement, a month at hard labor, a fine and a reduction in rank on charges of theft and assault.

He is the first American serviceman to be convicted of misconduct since U.S.-led coalition forces arrived on Dec. 9 to safeguard food shipments to the starving.

Marine Col. Fred Peck, the U.S. military spokesman, said Thomas was in a Humvee military vehicle with two other Marines leaving Mogadishu’s main airport.

They were stopped by a vendor, and Thomas took two canes as the Humvee drove off. The vendor gave chase and caught the vehicle. Thomas then punched him several times in the face, Peck said.

Thomas is expected to be shipped back to Camp Pendleton to serve his time.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Harry Conde, 33, faces a court-martial Monday on assault charges for shooting a Somali youth who had just swiped the sunglasses from his face. Conde, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, has said he thought he was being attacked and shot in self-defense.

Also Saturday, an Australian soldier became the 16th fatality in Operation Restore Hope. And two Somalis were killed in traffic accidents involving military vehicles.

Meanwhile, the coalition prepared for a one-day visit by Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell, who is to arrive late today, is scheduled to visit the Navy ship Wasp, the coalition headquarters and at least one town outside Mogadishu.

The cease-fire committee set up by a peace agreement signed by 15 of Somalia’s warring factions went to Kismayu on Saturday to seek a lasting peace.

The southern port city was the site of clashes between rival clans last week, but was reported quiet Saturday. A Marine amphibious group has been stationed in Kismayu since March 25.

Somalia’s civil war broke out after former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in January, 1991.