Police moved in but held fire, witnesses said, as a growing crowd of youths threw rocks at them. They eventually responded with charges and fusillades of teargas, some of which landed in the field, terrifying mourners and scattering ODM leaders.
As police pulled back, firing more teargas from the back of trucks, the youths set upon a nearby post office, smashing windows, starting a fire and tearing a wall down. They also smashed a row of phone booths.
PROTESTS OFF
Earlier, opposition sources said ODM would call off protests planned for Thursday.
"Annan has told us he will request no more street protests while he is here, and I can tell you we will not be objecting to that," a senior Odinga aide told Reuters.
Annan, due to meet Kibaki and Odinga on Wednesday, met newly elected parliament Speaker Kenneth Marende, who said face-to-face discussion between the two Kenyan leaders "is going to be on the table."
World powers have called on Kibaki and Odinga to hold urgent talks after more than three weeks of unrest.
Underscoring the urgency of Annan's mission, two men were found dead - one stoned and one decapitated - in Nairobi's Kariobangi slum. Area police commander Paul Ruto said the fighting was between Luos and Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group.
"We carried out an operation and have arrested five people. We have found a panga (machete) with blood stains," Ruto said, next to a truck holding the body with its head nearly off.
At least eight others were reported killed in the city and the Rift Valley, local media said.
Odinga has demanded Kibaki stand down or face an election repeat, which some diplomats have cautioned against as having too much potential for further bloodshed.
But Odinga hinted he may accept the creation of a prime minister post for him. "We are ready to share power with him. He remains president and we take the position of prime minister," Odinga told Germany's ARD television.
