20110429
reuters

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Two people were killed on Friday and at least 90 injured as police fired live bullets and teargas to try to quell protests across the Ugandan capital over the arrest of an opposition leader.

Kizza Besigye, who was defeated by President Yoweri Museveni in a February presidential election, was detained on Thursday for the fourth time this month during a protest against high food and fuel prices.

Television footage showed Besigye being beaten and drenched repeatedly with pepper-spray before he was thrown into a police pickup truck. He was later released on bail for medical treatment and his lawyer said he could not see.

While the protests against rising living costs have not attracted a huge following, the manner in which Besigye was arrested unleashed a wave of anger in Kampala and at least two other towns in the east African country.

"Kampala will be like this every day until Besigye is safe," shouted one young man has he ran from military police firing live rounds into the air in Nakasero market.

Besigye left for neighbouring Kenya on Friday afternoon to seek medical treatment. An official in his party said he was not running away and hoped to be back for a court appearance on Monday if his eyes had recovered.

Military police fired live rounds, rubber bullets and teargas at burning barricades blocking the main road out of Kampala to the international airport in Entebbe and sprayed adjacent residential areas with bullets.

Shell casings littered the highway, teargas hung in the air and security forces beat local residents. Reuters witnesses saw burning barricades in at least seven areas of Kampala and there were reports of rioting in other districts.