Somali PM escapes convoy attack
Three people have been killed in an apparent assassination attempt on the prime minister in the Somali capital Mogadishu, reports say.
Ali Mohamed Gedi was unharmed in the explosion set off near his convoy, witnesses said.
Mr Gedi was visiting from Jowhar, where the transitional government is based.
Somalia has been without a functioning national government for 14 years and a transitional parliament, sworn in last year, has failed to end the anarchy.
'Gunmen and grenades'
Mr Gedi was making his second visit to Mogadishu since his appointment at the helm of the transitional government.
Officials said he was travelling from the airport into the centre of the city when his convoy was attacked by gunmen, who hurled grenades and detonated a landmine.
The blast is reported to have hit one of the vehicles in the convoy, and the prime minister's vehicle was also damaged.
At least one of Mr Gedi's bodyguards was reported to be among the dead.
Somalia has been devastated by civil war and anarchy for 14 years.
In May, at least 14 people were killed in a Mogadishu stadium where Mr Gedi was speaking on his first visit to the capital after his appointment.
Sunday's blast comes a day after Somali pirates attacked a US-owned cruise ship sailing off the east African country.
Crew members on the Seabourn Spirit repelled gunmen in speedboats who opened fire on the vessel, in an incident which terrified passengers.
Ethiopia:
Ethiopia PM regrets protest dead
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said he regrets the deaths of at least 46 people killed in last week's anti-government protests.
But
he said it was understandable that police had panicked when facing protesters
with hand grenades and guns.
Speaking in Germany, Mr Zenawi accused the opposition of provoking unrest.
The opposition has called a week-long strike from Monday. A BBC correspondent in Addis Ababa says the police are braced for more possible violence.
The unrest first erupted on Tuesday after the opposition accused the government of rigging the 15 May elections and there are fears of more protests.
The elections saw Mr Zenawi's Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front take control of two-thirds of the country's parliament.
After the clashes, many opposition leaders were detained.
Inquiry
"We regret the death but it was not a normal demonstration," Mr Zenawi said during a visit to Bonn
"And I don't want to justify it when policemen get in a panic, but I can understand it when there are people throwing hand grenades and using guns," he said.
Mr Zenawi had earlier announced that an independent commission would investigate whether police had used excessive force to quell the unrest.
Ambassadors from 21 countries which have given aid to the drought-ravaged country issued a statement expressing dismay at the violence, and calling for an urgent investigation.
On Sunday, a joint statement by the US and the EU called on all political parties to "desist from further violence and to abide by the rule of law".
Police patrols
Last week, the unrest erupted in the towns of Bahir Dar, Awassa and Debre Berhan.
It was the worst disturbance in sub-Saharan Africa's second most populous country since protests first ignited after the elections, when some 36 people died and hundreds were arrested.
Police and soldiers have been patrolling Addis Ababa but residents fear the outbreak of more violence.
The unrest has sparked fears the country may be moving into a period of more authoritarian rule.
The internal crisis comes at a time of increasing tension with Eritrea over the two countries' disputed border, our correspondent says.