Two attempts by suicide missions against Somalia’s new President, Professor Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, were intercepted by peacekeepers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security agents.

The incident occurred at Jazeera Hotel where the president-elect has been staying since his election on Monday.

Security officers told Raadiyo Muqdisho, a state run broadcaster, that one person tried to enter the hotel. Guards that included Amisom peacekeepers fired, killing the attacker, who had a suicide belt around the waist. The belt did not explode.

“A second would-be bomber in a car exploded before reaching the gate of the hotel,” said a Raadiyo Muqdisho reporter situated in the hotel.

The reporter added that a Kenyan delegation visiting Mogadishu and led by its Foreign Minister, Prof Sam Ongeri, was meeting with the new president.
Unconfirmed report stated that three soldiers died and several others were wounded in the first suicide attempt on the life of Somalia’s new president.
Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, the Spokesman of Al-Shabaab, told al-Andalus, a media run by the fanatical movement that they are responsible.
“Our martyrs waged the attack on the phony president,” said Sheikh Ali Dhere.