The American author of an inflammatory book about Barack Obama was being deported from Kenya last night to prevent him from launching his work in the home country of the presidential candidate's father.

Jerome Corsi, who wrote the best-selling book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, was whisked away from his Nairobi hotel by immigration officials and later taken to the airport.

Mr Corsi won fame for a book that damaged John Kerry's presidential hopes in 2004 and his Obama book seeks to discredit the Illinois senator, claiming he is aradical and a dangerouscandidate for president.

He was due to launch the book in Nairobi before travelling to the slum home of one of Mr Obama's half-brothers to give him $1,000 (€730, £570) - a donation intended to suggest that the senator had abandoned his sibling.

Mr Obama's father was a Kenyan economist who met the senator's white American mother at university in Hawaii. Mr Obama's candidacy has generated huge excitement in Kenya, where he is seen as a symbol of Kenyans' ability to succeed abroad.

An immigration official said Mr Corsi was initially detained to investigate his visa status. Peter Mbae, Mr Corsi's publicist in Kenya, told Reuters: "His papers were found to be in order. His passport was fine, his visa was fine. But the government did not want him to launch his book on Kenyan soil." The book contains allegations about Mr Obama, including a suggestion he is seething with "black rage" and a claim that he was brought up as a Muslim.

Promotional literature for the book says it also reveals sinister links between Mr Obama and Kenyan politicians and an unspecified "plot to be executed in Kenya should Senator Obama win the American presidency".

Mr Obama's father was from the Luo tribe.

In Kisumu, the capital of Luo territory, in western Kenya, the US campaign is being followed with feverish anticipation.

"It will be like we arevoting here. People are mad about Obama. Since we believe he is one of us, it is expected he will bring a lot," said Audi Ogada, founding member of a group of youth activists in the town.