HYDERABAD: Police in this southern Indian city banned the flying of kites and balloons after Muslims said they would use them as part of their protest against US President George Bush, who visited the city on Friday.

A police official confirmed a report in the Deccan Chronicle daily that police director general Swaranjit Sen had issued the orders following ‘intelligence reports’ that protesters may fly kites bearing anti-Bush slogans.

The local newspaper, quoting top police sources, said balloon vendors were picked up from their homes as a ‘precautionary measure’ on Thursday.

“Our fight with Bush will be fought in the air,” Mohammed Amjadullah Khan, a Muslim leader in Hyderabad, had said on Thursday. “Thousands of black balloons and kites will dot the sky on Friday. They will have anti-Bush slogans written on them.”

Hyderabad is one of the pillars of India’s booming multi-billion dollar technology and outsourcing services industries. About 40 per cent of its seven million population are Muslims, many of whom were opposed to the visit of Mr Bush. —AFP