Mombasa - Security forces patrolled the
riot-hit streets of Mombasa on Friday as Muslims held the main weekly
prayers, with streets calm but police reporting they were ready "for
anything".
Authorities insist security has been restored after
days of deadly protests broke out following the assassination of radical
Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo Mohammed on Monday.
"Everything is
under control. We have not had any reports of planned protests after the
prayers, but we are prepared for anything," said regional police chief
Aggrey Adoli.
For two days, angry youths fought running battles
with police, looting churches and torching cars, while two grenades were
hurled at police trucks in two separate attacks, killing three officers
and wounding over a dozen.
Blocked off
"We have not had any incidences since Wednesday night," said Red Cross official Sadik Kakai.
Anti-riot police on Friday had blocked off several areas to vehicles, residents said.
"Streets
in the Majengo area have been cut off.... There is some kind of curfew
going on. There are people who spent the whole of Thursday indoors,"
said Juma Kijipwe, a trader who owns a phone shop.
Foreign
embassies - including those of Australia, Britain, France and the United
States - have issued travel warnings for Mombasa, where several large
tourist resorts are based.
The murdered cleric - popularly known
as Rogo - was on US and UN sanctions lists for allegedly supporting
neighbouring Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants.
Rogo had
fiercely opposed Kenya's invasion of southern Somalia last year to
attack Shebaab bases. The United States and United Nations had accused
him of recruiting and fundraising for the extremist insurgents.