Kenya: Four Die in Protest over Radical Jamaican Cleric

At least four people died in Nairobi Friday when police shot into a protest by Kenyan Muslims demanding the release of a radical Jamaican Muslim cleric who is being held by Kenyan authorities for being on an international terror list.

The protest, organized by the Muslim Human Rights Forum, started peacefully after Friday prayers at the Jamia Mosque in downtown Nairobi with poster-carrying Muslims chanting for the release of Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal.

Later however, the demonstration turned violent. The protesters destroyed vehicles and buildings and threw stones, causing immobility in the city centre for the most of the afternoon. Riot police moved in to break up the demonstration and were uncharacteristically backed by agitated members of the public, who threw stones back at the pro-Faisal demonstrators.

Faisal is listed on a global terror watch list and was jailed for four years in Britain for inciting the killing of Jews, Hindus and Americans.

He has remained in Kenyan custody since last week after the government failed to deport him. His country of birth, Jamaica, has accepted to receive him but no country is willing to allow him transit. [ES]