Suicide bombers target Somalia's new president

PanARMENIAN.Net - Somalia's new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, escaped an apparent assassination attempt in the capital, Mogadishu, on Wednesday, Sept 12, just two days after being selected as the troubled country's new leader, CNN reports.

According to a presidential press officer and several journalists at the scene, early indications are that the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers who set off explosives at the gates of the Jazeera Palace Hotel, where the president was having high-level meetings.

At least four Somali government soldiers and one African Union soldier were killed in the attack, according to journalists at the scene.

CNN affiliate KTN reported that Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Ongeri was in the hotel at the time of the blast.

Mohamud, a political newcomer who has worked for the United Nations and several other international organizations, was voted in by Somali lawmakers Monday.

His election marked a milestone for the nation, which plunged into chaos after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown 21 years ago. Following his ouster, clan warlords and militants battled for control, sparking a civil war and mayhem nationwide.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since then and has mostly remained under a shaky transitional federal government.

On Tuesday, the Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab, which has been fighting to overthrow the authorities, released a statement dismissing the elections and calling them a Western plot.

It vowed to oppose the newly named government.

Al-Shabaab "does not regard the so called elections as being in the interests of the Somali people. They represent Western interests, and interests of their agents in the region," the statement said.