Dr. Jerome Corsi, who authored "The Obama Nation; Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," was arrested at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday, minutes before launching the book meant to advance a negative campaign against the Democratic presidential candidate on his ancestral soil.

Senior immigration officials told Xinhua that Corsi who was briefly detained at the Immigration Department is currently being held at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport awaiting deportation.

"We are with him at the airport," said a senior immigration official who refused to confirm whether Corsi is awaiting the next flight to the United States. He also denied Corsi's detention was linked to the contents of his book.

Corsi was grabbed as he entered the venue of the press conference and later whisked to the Immigration department for questioning. His books and copies of the media statement were confiscated.

In a media invite issued on Monday, Corsi announced he would "expose deep secret ties between US Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barrack Obama and a section of the Kenyan government leaders."

Obama's father, now deceased, was Kenyan and the US senator running for president enjoys wide supports in East Africa.

Corsi said he was also to detail Kenyan leaders' "connections to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and a subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Sen. Obama win the American presidency," the statement said.

The development had raised eyebrows a day after the Democratic Party candidate accused his Republican opponent John McCain of resorting to smear campaigns and trying to "tear down" his campaign by linking him to terrorists.

"There is no deportation but we are yet to decide on what do with the author," an official at the Immigration department told Xinhua.