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NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya deported Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal on Thursday, a week after protests against his detention in east Africa's biggest economy degenerated into running battles in the capital.

There had been fears the cleric's continued presence in Kenya, along with the suppression by the security forces of last Friday's march, could trigger more violence in the capital Nairobi and the port city Mombasa.

"I have been informed by the Kenyan anti-terrorism police unit that Faisal is no longer within the Kenyan jurisdiction," Edwin Okello, principal state counsel, told the High Court.

He produced a copy of the exit stamp in Faisal's passport and a signed immigration departure form dated January 21 showing the cleric was leaving for Jamaica aboard a Gulfstream jet.

Faisal had been due to appear in the High Court on Thursday following a suit filed by a Kenyan Muslim rights group against both his detention and planned deportation.

Faisal, 46, was visiting Kenya for a preaching tour, but intelligence officials feared his speeches would have incited militants in a country that suffered al Qaeda-linked attacks in 1998 and 2002.

Faisal was deported from Britain in 2007 for preaching hatred and urging his audiencies to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners. He was arrested in Kenya on December 31.

Civil unrest in Kenya is particularly worrying following post-election violence in 2008 that killed some 1,300 people and the threat from militants in neighbouring Somalia that are seen as a proxy for al Qaeda.