Kenya opposition chased by police

[me]

Kenya opposition chased by police

 

Kenyan opposition leaders attempting to launch a rally in the capital Nairobi have been chased from the city centre by police firing tear gas.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) called three days of protests against December elections it says were rigged.

 

But the countrywide rallies have been banned by police.

 

At least two people were killed in western Kenya as police clashed with activists on Wednesday. More than 600 have died in unrest since the election.

 

President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the vote - but the results were rejected by the opposition and called into question by international observers.

 

The violence has driven about a quarter of a million of people from their homes and shaken relations between the country's dominant ethnic groups.

 

 

ODM leader Raila Odinga was among a group of party leaders and activists who attempted to make their way to the politically symbolic Uhuru (Freedom) Park on Wednesday, where they planned to hold a rally.

 

The BBC's Caroline Karobia says police fired tear gas to stop their approach.

 

 

The police are well prepared to counter any groups attempting to disrupt peace

Eric Kiraithe

Police spokesman

 

 

 

Mr Odinga was in a car, surrounded outside by several high-ranking ODM leaders and young supporters.

 

As the canisters landed, they all fled and were pursued by police down side streets, she says.

 

As the tension heightened at the entrance to Uhuru Park, anti-riot police, some riding on horses, charged at journalists and lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse them.

 

Many shopkeepers in the capital boarded up their properties to try to prevent looting, and business was at a standstill.

 

But correspondents say rain in Nairobi has stopped many people taking to the streets.

 

However, residents in the city's Kibera slum have told the BBC that three people were being treated for gunshot wounds.

 

But police denied firing at crowds in the area.

 

Mr Odinga said: "The massive deployment of security forces will not intimidate the people of Kenya from demanding their right, it is an indication that the government is terrified of its own people."

 

 

Running battles

 

The BBC's Karen Allen in the western town of Kisumu, home to ODM presidential challenger Mr Odinga, says some 300 people were trying to march into the town centre when police opened fire.

 

 

 

 

 

Our correspondent says two bodies were carried away from the scene of the protest.

In the port city of Mombasa, there have also been running battles between protesters and police and several people have been injured.

 

A BBC correspondent there said opposition activists wearing white ribbons and carrying placards staged sit-ins at the main roads leading into the city.

 

In the western opposition stronghold of Eldoret, which witnessed the burning of a church in post-poll violence, protesters also erected roadblocks in the outskirts of town.

 

 

As the protests began, Mr Odinga said through "peaceful people power" and international mediation, his party would ensure that the political stalemate in the country was resolved.

 

Attempts at outside mediation between Mr Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki have failed with the latest, a bid by Kofi Annan, postponed when the former United Nations chief fell ill.

 

At Tuesday's inauguration of the new parliament, Kenya's two bitter rivals studiously ignored each other, correspondents say.

 

Parliament's new speaker, the ODM's Kenneth Marende, told the BBC that the ODM had the constitutional right to protest against Mr Kibaki's re-election.

 

He said the opposition's dominance of parliament would make it difficult for President Kibaki's PNU party to impose itself, and that it might be forced into forming a coalition.

[ElPunto]

^Me - ayaanta - you've become a run of the mill news poster. What happened to the brash and intemperate fellow of yesteryear who gave his opinion on everything?

[Separatist]

See Balala running for his life. Karau siyo!