Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

The United States said today it was deeply concerned over a worsening power struggle between Somalia's President and Prime Minister, and pulled out of an international summit on the war-torn country.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon expressed outrage at a "despicable" Islamist attack on a UN compound in Somalia which left 16 dead but vowed that the organisation would not end its work in the troubled country.

Three soldiers, one Ugandan from the African Union Force and two Somalis, died in an attack targeting Somalia's new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday, a police officer said.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a 56-year-old university lecturer chosen by lawmakers as Somalia's new president, is not well known. "We don't know much about him at all," a western diplomat told AFP as voting in the presidential poll drew to a close.

The United States said today it was deeply concerned over a worsening power struggle between Somalia's President and Prime Minister, and pulled out of an international summit on the war-torn country.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon expressed outrage at a "despicable" Islamist attack on a UN compound in Somalia which left 16 dead but vowed that the organisation would not end its work in the troubled country.

Three soldiers, one Ugandan from the African Union Force and two Somalis, died in an attack targeting Somalia's new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday, a police officer said.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a 56-year-old university lecturer chosen by lawmakers as Somalia's new president, is not well known. "We don't know much about him at all," a western diplomat told AFP as voting in the presidential poll drew to a close.