40 Hurt in Anti-US Riot

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
NEWS
December 14, 2003
Posted to the web December 15, 2003

By Victor Obure
Nairobi
More than 40 people including a chief were injured on Friday when hundreds of
Muslims attempted to eject US Marines from a Garissa hotel.
Scores were pelted with stones as riot police engaged protesters in running
battles in the town's streets.
Placard-waving residents torched American flags and an effigy of US President
George Bush at a Garissa playground before accosting the Marines.
They also mounted roadblocks on the major roads and indiscriminately pelted
motorists with stones while chanting anti-US slogans.
The Marines arrived in the town last week to offer free medical and veterinary
services but met a hostile reception from residents amid claims that they were
pursuing terrorists in the region.
Imams and Sheikhs reportedly incited faithful in local mosques against the
charity claiming the drugs offered were laced with toxic substances intended to
wipe out the Muslim population from the world.
Nine Marines caught up in Friday's violence were visibly shaken and held
lengthy conversations via powerful military satellite phones before Garissa
police chief Remmy Ngugi beefed up security and assured them of their safety.
And tempers flared up during the Jamhuri day celebrations at Garissa's Baraza
Park when Fafi MP Adden Sugow clashed with immediate area MP Elias Shill over
the presence of the Marines in town.
Sugow insisted that the Americans should leave immediately but Shill, who had
apparently accompanied the soldiers in their tour, said they should carry on
with the charity amid booing from the public.
Sugow said America wanted to replace the dominance of Islamic NGOs in the
region and demanded that such charities be run by local organisations.
"We don't want American soldiers in our manyattas, we can only deal with them
indirectly through other agencies because we believe they have a hidden
agenda," he shouted.
North Eastern Provincial Commissioner Abdul Mwasera cautioned leaders not to
politicise the charity and said treatment was voluntary.
He censored religious leaders for inciting residents against the Marines and
urged them to appreciate their noble gesture.
The protest comes after a similar outcry in Wajir District where pastoralists
claimed that some of the animals vaccinated by the Marines died after the
treatment.

   

  =============================================================================
 Copyright © 2003 The East African Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed
                   by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
  =============================================================================