Somalia's president ready to meet warlords

The new Somali president live from the UN in New York on BBC News Online

By Hassan Barise in Mogadishu

The demonstration, which involved tens of thousands of people including women and children, began spontaneously at about 9 am local time and then gained momentum as the morning wore on.

Hundreds of shops, stores and restaurants o n the main Soddonkah road were forced to close as the demonstrators started stoning their premises.

Traffic came to a halt after several buses and cars had their windshields smashed.

Things came to a head when the ever-increasing number of protesters reached Bakara market, the country's biggest trading centre, and passed the main telecommunications companies of Al-Barakat and Olympic.

Security guards outside these buildings started firing warning shots. The market descended into chaos after all the business people, feeling threatened and afraid of a possible looting spree, brandished their weapons.

The demonstrators then started burning tyres and rubbish along the main roads and there was indeed a degree of looting.

Just like a war zone, Mogadishu On Tuesday is covered with huge palls of smoke.

The trouble was widespread and crippling, with the protesters even reaching the heavily fortified zone where the interim president, Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, lives and works.

Luckily for him, he happened to be out at the time.

In several areas the demonstrators were fired at and 9 ended up in Medina hospital, including a boy and a girl.

One victim, a man selling bananas from a wheelbarrow, has subsequently died from his wounds.

The rioting was sparked off by the fact that most business people are refusing to accept 500 shilling notes.

They argue that they are old, worn out and now worth too little. The smallest denomination they will take is the 1,000 shilling note.

The price of a cup of tea therefore has doubled virtually overnight. A few days ago it cost 500 shillings, now it's a thousand.

The president, who spoke briefly on government radio, called on the people to calm down.

He said : "the 500 shilling note is legal tender which nobody can refuse to take." He added : "I have ordered the police and the appropriate courts to take the necessary measures against those who try to destabilize the country by not accepting these notes."

The violence has now subsided and the businesspeople and money changers will attend an emergency meeting later in the day to tackle the current crisis