The New Nation - Internet Edition

Agency

Kenyan authorities have detained the American author of a highly critical book about US presidential candidate Barack Obama, officials have said.

They said Jerome Corsi was being held in the capital, Nairobi, because of a problem with his papers.

The author of The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality has been accused of a smear campaign against Obama.

Obama's father was from Kenya, where the US candidate is highly popular.

Corsi had travelled to Kenya to launch his best-selling book there.

In a recent press release, the author said he would "expose deep secret ties between US Democratic presidential candidate Sen Barack Obama and a section of the Kenyan government leaders."