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Kenya lockdown as Obama comes to talk security, trade

– Overwhelming security –

Asked whether gay rights would be discussed, Kenyatta said: “That is a non-issue to the people of this country, and it is definitely not on our agenda at all.”

“The fight against terror will be central, we have been working in very close cooperation with American agencies,” Kenyatta said. “Poverty, improved health for our people, better education, better roads, better security, these are our key focuses.”

Counter-terrorism will also be a key topic for discussion, with Nairobi the scene of one of Al-Qaeda’s twin 1998 US embassy bombings.

Obama is due to address an international business summit in Nairobi on Saturday, an event the US embassy itself warned could be “a target for terrorists”.

“The American president is a high-value target so an attack, or even an attempt, would raise the profile of Shebab,” warned Richard Tutah, a Nairobi-based security and terrorism expert.

Mitigating that is an overwhelming security presence in the capital, which regional security analyst Abdullahi Halakhe described as “suffocating”.

Hundreds of American security personnel have arrived in Kenya in recent weeks.

In a press conference in Washington this month Obama bemoaned the heavy security restrictions.

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“I will be honest with you, visiting Kenya as a private citizen is probably more meaningful to me than visiting as president, because I can actually get outside of the hotel room or a conference centre,” Obama said.

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