Separatist protests in Kenya Mombasa with casualties

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

MOMBASA (Reuters) - One person was killed in Kenya on Tuesday during a protest against the government's rule of the Mombasa coastal strip, a tourism magnet and one of the country's main foreign exchange earners.

 

The protest came after the government banned the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), a group calling for the coastal city area to secede.

 

More than 50 people stormed a court that was hearing a case in which the MRC has challenged the government ruling. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.

 

"I can confirm that one person died in the confrontation after the youths affiliated with the MRC stormed the law courts," said regional police chief Aggrey Adoli.

 

Adoli said the youth died after he was hit by a stone thrown by a fellow protester. He denied reports by some protesters that police had fired live rounds.

 

"The death of the youth was not as a result of a police bullet, but rather he died of wounds inflicted after his colleague hit him with a stone," he said.

 

Adoli said the protesters had been warned to stay away from the court. Police made several arrests and several protesters were injured.

 

The MRC says it wants the coastal strip, which includes Kenya's main port, to run its own affairs and accuses successive governments of doing too little to alleviate poverty.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

 

Mombasa Republican Council protests: Kenyan killed

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Kenya's coastal rebels

A protester has died during clashes between police and a group which wants independence for the Coast region around Mombasa.

 

A member of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) died after being hit on the head by a stone thrown by a fellow protester, police say.

 

Police fired tear gas to prevent about 100 MRC members from entering a Mombasa court.

 

The court is hearing a challenge to a ban on the group.

 

The MRC argues that the mainly Muslim Coastal region has been ignored by the national government in Nairobi.

 

Prime Minister Raila Odinga this week rejected holding talks with the MRC, saying it must first drop its demands for independence.

 

Dozens of MRC members have been arrested in recent days, local media