16/08/08 (B461) Shabelle Media / Deux violentes explosions visaient ce matin les forces éthiopiennes, sur l’itinéraire de la délégation du Président du GNT et de son P.M. qui se rendent à Addis Abeba, pour tenter d’apaiser leurs divergences. Les Ethiopiens ont ouvert le feu et tué un père et son fils et fait plusieurs blessés dont un enfant / Explosions rock Somali capital, Ethiopian troops kill two (En Anglais – Info lecteur)

Two powerful explosions took place this morning between Makka Al Mukarrama Road and the Adan Adde International Airport in Mogadishu as two delegations of the Transitional Federal Government were due to depart [for Djibouti and Ethiopia respectively].

A large number of Ethiopian and Somali troops had by then closed the main road connecting the presidential palace and airport.

The troops restricted the use of the road by public vehicles. Their excuse for the closure was the planned trip by the Somali government leaders.

The government delegation is divided into two – the president and his premier will leave together for Ethiopia where they will attempt to resolve their bitter political dispute. The second group is led by the deputy prime minister, who is also the information minister Ahmad Abdisalan, and is headed for Djibouti to attend a meeting aimed at finalizing a peace agreement signed in Djibouti [between the Somali government and a faction of the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia]. During the Djibouti meeting, both sides are expected to make proposals that will be tabled in Saudi Arabia [where a final deal is expected to be signed].

Though the road between the presidential palace and airport was closed, two powerful explosions targeting the Ethiopian forces took place. The explosions occurred near Somali Cinema and airport.

The Ethiopian forces opened fire and killed two civilians – a father and his son. They also injured four other people, three of them children.