Police briefly detained a Ugandan opposition leader on Thursday during public protests, but politicians escaped the violence meted out to the most prominent opposition figure last week in an arrest that sparked riots, according to Reuters. Kizza Besigye, defeated by President Yoweri Museveni for a third time in a presidential poll in February, was still in hospital in Nairobi after police drenched him with pepper spray and hauled him into a pick-up truck last week. Opposition politicians have urged Ugandans to leave their cars at home on Mondays and Thursdays in solidarity with those who cannot afford fuel. The protests have sparked violence in the capital Kampala and several other towns for nearly a month. Former presidential candidate Norbert Mao, who has been arrested twice for his part in the protests, was briefly detained as he walked to work with a dozen supporters on Thursday, Reuters witnesses said. "It is ridiculous. It shows that the government is afraid of its own shadow," Mao told police before getting into one of their cars. He was freed less than half an hour later. "He has not been arrested," police spokeswoman Judith Nabakobo told Reuters. "We realised it could lead to a breach of the peace because he had many people moving with him. He agreed and left the scene in one of our vehicles." Thursday's protests were significantly smaller and the security presence was lighter than during previous demonstrations spearheaded by Besigye. CHANGING TACTICS? Several other prominent opposition politicians were allowed to walk to work, chaperoned by police and small numbers of supporters. Opposition officials said the fact that police had not blocked the walks or arrested Mao might mark a change in strategy by security forces worried that the clampdown could spark further violence. Besigye's arrest on Thursday -- his fourth since the campaign began -- sparked riots in the capital and other towns on Friday. At least two people were killed and hundreds injured as police fired live bullets and teargas to disperse protesters. "It looks like they're changing tactics and it may be that they've heeded public outrage," Anne Mugisha, deputy foreign secretary of Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change party, told Reuters. "But the real test is how they're going to treat Kizza Besigye when he returns from Nairobi and tries to walk again." Mugisha said she could not confirm when Besigye would return to the capital Kampala, and that he was still being treated for eye injuries sustained during his arrest. Besigye has said he believes his life is in danger, but that the campaign will continue. Museveni has vowed to crush the protests and blamed the rising food and fuel costs on drought and global increases in oil prices. Unlike neighbouring Kenya, the government has so far resisted taking measures to ease the burden on consumers.
