Spotlight on Kenya as Muslims Engage Police in Battle

Muslim Protests in Kenya

Several people were seriously injured in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on Friday as anti-riot police engaged Muslim protesters against the detention of a Jamaican Muslim cleric. The mid-day protest left an unconfirmed number of protesters, journalists and police officers critically injured. The protesters waving an Al-Shabaab-linked flag were engaged by police as they tried to hold peaceful protest along major streets in the capital. According to eyewitnesses, police presence sparked the protest.The police had earlier warned of the protest terming it as unlawful.

Police fired teargas canisters to disperse the youth, who in turn pelted the officers with stones.

Police riding on horse backs on the ground at one time were cornered by the irate youths prompting air-wing unit to intervene. A foreign journalist was caught up in the chaos and was seriously injured. Taxi operators declined to rush him to hospital in fear of attack by the Muslims. Last week, Friday, Muslims in Kenya had planned for a demo was addressed by Muslim leaders. Today, police stormed the Mosque to flush out protesters who had sought refuge in the mosque. Al-Faisal’s lawyers and rights groups have complained that the cleric is being held without charge. Al-Faisal was seized on New Year’s Eve in Mombasa and is being held by police awaiting deportation. Abdullah al-Faisal, who is on a global terror watch-list and served four years in a British jail for inciting racial hatred, has been in Kenyan custody since last week after the authorities tried and failed to deport him.

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