Five hurt as Kenya police teargas Muslim protesters

Kenyan police fired shots and tear gas as they fought running battles in downtown Nairobi Friday with Muslim demonstrators demanding the release of a radical Jamaican cleric.

At least one policeman and four demonstrators were injured in the violence in the central business district which erupted as police tried to disperse crowds gathered after Friday prayers, according to AFP reporters on the scene.

Some protesters hurled stones at the police shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and waving banners that "Release Al Faisal, he is innocent".

Abdullah al-Faisal, who is on a global terror watchlist 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.

Faisal's lawyers and rights groups have complained that the cleric is being held without charge.

Police and immigration officials said at the time they arrested the imam for violating immigration regulations by preaching.

Faisal, 45, was arrested in Britain in 2003 after spending years urging his audiences to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners.