From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Jan 15 2010 - 12:20:07 EST
Kenyan police, people clash with Muslim protesters
Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:36pm GMT
* Protest contained by police, tense standoff continues
* March sparked reprisals from angry Kenyans
* Cleric in custody was deported from Britain in 2007
(Adds more on casualties, government comment)
By Abdiaziz Hassan and Humphrey Malalo
NAIROBI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Kenyan security forces fired assault rifles and
tear gas at hundreds of Muslims protesting in the capital on Friday against
the detention of Jamaican cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal.
Chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), the demonstrators were blocked by
police with dogs as they tried to march through the heart of Nairobi after
prayers at the downtown mosque.
Some Kenyans, furious the banned protest had taken place at all, joined
forces with the police and began hurling stones at the marchers, most of
whom were squeezed back towards the mosque after prolonged street
skirmishes.
Hours later there was a tense standoff outside the mosque. Groups of Kenyans
massed at each end of the street with some Muslim protesters in the middle,
and few police in sight.
One protester in fatigues and a black balaclava was waving the flag of al
Shabaab -- the Somali rebel group that Washington accuses of being al
Qaeda's proxy -- and taunting the crowds by drawing his finger across his
throat in a slitting motion.
Faisal was deported from Britain in 2007 for preaching racial hatred and
urging his audiences to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners. Faisal was
visiting the east African nation, which has a large Somali community in
Nairobi, for a preaching tour.
"One person, a Jamaican, how can he make the whole country shut down? One
person, how come no one in Jamaica is defending him?" said a man in a group
that charged the Muslim protesters.
"These demonstrators, they can go back home to Somalia if they want to," he
told Reuters Television.
"THREAT TO THIS COUNTRY"
Kenyan intelligence officials have said they fear Faisal's speeches could
stoke radicalism in a country that has suffered two al Qaeda-linked attacks.
Faisal was arrested on Dec. 31 and the government now wants to send him to
Jamaica.
Police sources told Reuters he will be held in cells at Nairobi airport
until he can be flown out.
"Mr al-Faisal is a threat to this country because of his alleged tendencies
to recruit suicide bombers," government spokesman Alfred Mutua told
reporters after the riots.
Attempts by Kenya to deport Faisal failed last week because Nigeria refused
to give him a transit visa to Gambia.
During the clashes, small ambulances shuttled to and fro with sirens
blaring. A helicopter clattered overhead and police used water cannon to try
and clear the streets.
The security forces fired AK-47 assault rifles at pockets of stone-throwing
protesters, according to Reuters TV footage.
One fleeing demonstrator was grabbed by police and beaten with batons and
kicked on the ground.
When the police moved on, a medic went to the man closed his eyelids and
carried him away. It was not clear whether the protestor was unconscious or
dead.
Local radio said one person had been killed in the riots and witnesses said
a security officer had been wounded by a gunshot.
Kenyatta National hospital said it had received six people with gunshot
wounds, but they were out of danger.
Kenya hosts some 300,000 Somali refugees in refugee camps and there is a
large Somali community in Nairobi. Some Somalis who fled the war say they
fear Islamists are snatching or luring their children from their new life in
Kenya. [ID:nLG337811]
Al Shabaab is battling to overthrow the Somali government and impose its own
harsh version of sharia, Islamic law.
While there frequent reports of al Shabaab sympathisers being seen in a
Nairobi suburb called Eastleigh, the appearance of their flags on the
capital's streets is new. (Additional reporting by Thomas Mukoya, Robert
Waweru, Njuwa Maina, Linda Muriuki; writing by David Clarke; editing by
Philippa Fletcher)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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