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The first blast occurred in the early morning near an Ethiopian Airlines office; later in the morning there were several other explosions in different parts of Addis Ababa.

Information ministry spokesman Zemedkun Tekle tells VOA there were four blasts that killed two people and injured 21.  But media reports say there were six bombs that killed three people and wounded more than 30.

Zemedkun says the capital is otherwise calm, and denies that the random explosions make Addis Ababa a dangerous city.

"The capital is very peaceful and nothing is new," he said.  "You may find those kind of explosions even in big cities like in the United States and other parts of the world. So nothing is exceptional in this case. It is calm and everybody is on the street and you can take it [you can look upon it] as something that can happen."

Friday's blasts are the latest in a series to rock the Ethiopian capital since the beginning of the year.

Zemedkun would not comment on who the government suspects is responsible for the explosions, or whether Friday's blasts are linked to the earlier explosions, saying that police are investigating the incident and trying to find what he describes as the "anti-peace agents" who carried out the attacks.

A police spokesman was quoted in news reports as saying he believes the explosions are being done to give the impression that the capital is unstable.