Hassan moved to secure complex after attacks

Mogadishu: Somalia’s new president has been moved to a secure compound after surviving an assassination attempt that dented hopes of change in the violence-scarred country and brought condemnation from the United States.

Hassan Shaikh Mohmoud was the surprise winner of Monday’s election in the poverty-stricken Horn of Africa nation that has been the battleground of warlords and Islamist militias for more than two decades.

The Al Qaida-linked Al Shabab militia claimed responsibility for the apparent twin suicide bomb attacks on Wednesday outside the Mogadishu hotel, where Hassan had been meeting a Kenyan delegation.

Hassan was unharmed in the attacks, but three soldiers - two Somalis and a Ugandan from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) - were killed in what appeared to be an attack by multiple suicide bombers in security forces’ uniforms.

The new president was transferred to Villa Somalia, a highly fortified complex which is home to several Somali institutions, AMISOM spokesman Colonel Ali Houmed said.

A Somali security official confirmed that Hassan was taken to the Villa, which still houses outgoing president Sharif Shaikh Ahmad.

The United States condemned the assassination bid, just days after voicing hopes that Hassan’s election would usher in a new era for the troubled country.

“The United States condemns these attacks in the strongest possible terms and calls on all Somalis to refrain from inciting violence,” said Hilary Renner, spokeswoman for the State Department’s bureau of African affairs.

At home the violence also dampened the mood of cautious optimism that followed Hassan’s election.