In market issue, a Somali government forces clashed with opposition supporters angered by delayed elections.

Video sent to Reuters from an anti government demonstration showed civilians in face masks waving Somali flags scattering as gunfire erupted.

Reuters journalists nearby could hear intermittent gunfire, a zwelling heavier explosions.

The spillover of political rivalries in tow Open conflict will dismay Somalia's allies Ont play into the hands of the al Qaeda linked al Shabaab insurgency, which mounts attacks on civilians around East Africa in its bid to install strict Islamic law.

Hours before the demonstrations, Somalia's former president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed accused government troops of attacking a hotel where he was staying with another former president.

Ahead of Friday's rally, Somalia's minister of security Hassan Hindu Beija Molly, accused the opposition of starting the fighting.