BAIDOA, Somalia, Sept 18, 2006 (AFP) - An explosion rocked the temporary seat of the weak Somali government on Monday near the parliament building where the country's interim president was addressing lawmakers, witnesses said.

"There is an explosion near the parliament building," government spokesman Abdrahman Mohamed Nur Dinari told AFP. "It happened as the president was addressing the parliament.

"We do not know what it is, but police have rushed to the scene to investigate," he said.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was expected on Monday to ask parliament to approve a new cabinet to shore up the largely powerless government that has been seriously challenged by the rise of an Islamist movement.

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