Author of Obama book deported from Kenya

Jerome Corsi (pictured), author of a muck-raking book on Barack Obama, which, among things, tries to link the would-be president with extremist muslims, has been deported from Kenya. He had gone there to promote Obama Nation: Leftist Nation and the Cult of Personality, but he hadn't reckoned on the esteem with which the Illinois senator is held in the country, the birthplace of his late father.

Kenyan officials insisted that the action was taken because Corsi had arrived in the country without the necessary work permit. However, the speed with which he was spirited out of the capital suggested that the government wanted to save itself any embarrassment that the writer's presence may have caused. Obama is a widely revered figure among a majority of Kenyans.

"We have nothing to do with the book or whoever it's about," a police official said. "It's about the law of Kenya."

It was another book by Corsi – Unfit for Command – that, according to some observers, helped doom John Kerry's bid for the White House in 2004. Many of the claims in Obama Nation – for instance that Obama was once a Muslim and that he was and still may be a drug user – have been debunked by the web site fightthesmears.com, which is run by the Obama campaign.

The invitation to the launch event, which was to be held today, said the book would "expose deep secret ties between the US Democratic presidential candidate and a section of the Kenyan government." Corsi was also due to visit George Obama, a half brother of the candidate living in a Nairobi slum, and hand him a cheque for $1,000 (£570).

Meanwhile, Corsi's publicist in Nairobi, Peter Mbae, insisted that the immigration claims were bogus. "His papers were in order. His passport was fine, his visa was fine. But the government did not want him to launch his book on Kenyan soil. That's why he has been deported."