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Kenyan police fire tear gas to disperse Odinga supporters

Police fired tear gas to break up demonstrating youths in the Kenyan city of Mombasa yesterday as the opposition sought to launch new protests against Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

But amid a major police security operation, only limited numbers responded to the call by opposition leader Raila Odinga to defy an official ban on rallies.

Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) called for three days of demonstrations, a move which heightened fears of a new violence after unrest which has left 700 dead since the Dec. 27 presidential election which Odinga said was rigged.

Police broke up groups of youths gathered in the coastal city of Mombasa.

"Police fired tear gas at the youths who wanted to cause chaos in two small incidents," said Wilfred Mbithi, Mombasa police commander.

Scuffles were also reported around the western towns of Nakuru and Eldoret, as paramilitary police tried to contain protesters.

At least one protester was arrested in Bungoma in the west and fires were lit by demonstrators in nearby Kisumu, an opposition stronghold and the country's third city, police said.

In Nairobi, police guarded the central park where ODM leaders vowed to hold a rally, but people carried on with their business as usual and streets in the business district remained open to traffic.

Boosted by a key parliamentary victory on Tuesday, the ODM insisted the rallies would go ahead despite the police ban and appeals by religious leaders concerned about the potential for violence.
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