Kenya:Teargas rained down on Kenyan towns and cities yesterday as thousands of protesters began three days of demonstrations to demand a rerun of disputed elections.
Armed police fired into the air to disperse angry crowds that brought much of the country to a standstill.
Two people were shot dead in the western city of Kisumu, while three young men were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds in Kibera, Nairobi's biggest slum.
Protesters said they would not rest until President Mwai Kibaki was forced from office and replaced by his challenger, Raila Odinga.
More than 600 people have died and 250,000 more have been forced from their homes since Mr Kibaki was declared the winner of disputed elections.
In Kibera, witnesses said police fired indiscriminately at people in the street.
Bonnie Ouma, whose friend was injured in the leg, said: "One of them was at his workplace, selling charcoal. There was no demonstration, no barricades, nothing and the police came through firing from their car."
Heavy rain during the morning meant the Kibera protests got off to a slow start.
But as word of the shootings spread, burned-out cars were dragged into the streets and tyres set alight.
Police made sporadic forays into the muddy slum, firing teargas and live rounds into the air as protesters chanted "No Raila, no peace." In the city centre, police ordered shops and businesses to close early and chased hawkers and office staff away.
Witnesses said they had seen women being clubbed by officers in riot gear.
Teargas fumes wafted around the entrances to the city's deserted hotels, which should be full of tourists on their way to Kenya's game parks.
In Kisumu, about 1,000 young men took to the streets carrying a coffin with Mr Kibaki's name on it. Protesters there threw rocks at police who let loose volleys of rifle-fire into the air.
Similar scenes played out in the coastal city of Mombasa, where police hurled teargas and used batons to beat back groups of protesters several hundred strong.
Salim Lone, spokesman for Mr Odinga, said the protests were peaceful and designed to show the government it could not ignore the strength of feeling.
He said they would continue to paralyse business, adding: "How long can the government cope with this disruption before it sits down with us to negotiate a way out of the crisis?"
Meanwhile, the US ambassador added his voice to the concerns about the outcome of the election.
In an interview with the Nation journal, Michael Ranneberger said it was not possible "to say with certainty who won because the process was not transparent".
Mediation efforts have been put on hold after Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations, was taken ill with flu shortly before he was due to arrive in the country.