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A leading American neo-conservative author has been detained by immigration authorities in Kenya as he tried to launch a book smearing Barack Obama.

Jerome Corsi, of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth fame, was this morning being held after failing to reckon with Obamamania.

He had been planning to launch his book, entitled The Obama Nation Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, before travelling to one of Nairobi’s slums to donate money to the Senator’s half-brother George, who was found living in squalid conditions two months ago.

But officers swooped hours after Dr Corsi was described as "author of a smear crusade" by local newspapers.

Immigration officials claim he had been detained because he did not have a work permit, however one of Dr Corsi's assistants said he was "just answering some questions".

"We have been given water and are very comfortable," the assistant said.

Journalists were turned away from the hotel suite where the launch was due to be held. "He shouldn’t have had anything in the paper this morning," said one. "That was his mistake. He should have kept it secret."

Dr Corsi said he had a $1,000 cheque for George Obama, seen as part of a stunt to suggest that the senator was not taking care of his Kenyan-based relative.

A source at Nyayo House, where Dr Corsi was being held, said the author had been detained for references made to Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, and allegations that his Muslim supporters had engaged in a wave of violence that rocked the country after December’s disputed elections.

The allegations are not taken seriously in Kenya, were Mr Odinga is widely seen to have been cheated out of a legitimate victory.

Carlos Maluta, a senior immigration official in charge of investigations, said Dr Corsi did not have a work permit. "We still haven’t decided what to do with him," he told The Associated Press.

In the promotional literature for his book, Dr Corsi promised to reveal sinister links between Kenyan politicians and Mr Obama.

"Dr Corsi will also expose details of deep secret ties between US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and a section of Kenya government leaders, their connection to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Senator Obama win the American presidency," it said.

Mr Obama, whose father was a well-known Kenyan economist, is hugely popular across Africa.

In Kenya, his meteoric rise and subsequent fame have won him support across traditional tribal boundaries and left many ordinary people wondering why American right-wingers would wish him ill.

Hawkers in the city centre are selling badges and T-shirts bearing Obama’s image, and every twist of the US election campaign is being followed on television and radio.

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