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                   New Somali President Safe After Explosion

   by VOA News

   Somalia's new president is safe after a bomb attack at the Mogadishu
   hotel where he was meeting with Kenyan officials.
   VOA correspondent Gabe Joselow, who was at the site of the blast, says
   two bombs detonated outside the Jazeera Hotel Wednesday as President
   Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Kenyan Foreign Minister Samson Ongeri spoke
   to reporters inside.
   Joselow says the dignitaries in the hotel were unharmed.
   VOA's Somali Service reports that at least five people outside were
   killed, including African Union troops who were guarding the hotel.
   Somali service reporter Seynab Abukar said the first bomb was a suicide
   blast at the gate to the hotel complex, and the second was a car bomb.
   She also says AU troops opened fire on several suspected attackers who
   tried to get inside the hotel.
   The president and Kenyan delegation were escorted out of the hotel to
   an undisclosed location.
   Mohamud was elected president by Somalia's parliament on Monday.  The
   election was the final step of a U.N.-backed plan to bring a stable
   central government to Somalia.
   The Horn of Africa country has endured two decades of chaos and
   conflict since the last stable government collapsed in 1991.
   Last month, Somali leaders adopted a new constitution and installed a
   new federal parliament and speaker.
   In a statement late Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
   congratulated the Somali people for their steps toward a new
   government.  She said the U.S. remains committed to helping the new
   government strengthen democratic institutions, and improve stability
   and security.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/new-somali-president-safe-after-explo
   sion/1506278.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/new-somali-president-safe-after-explosion/1506278.html