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Deadly skirmishes continue in
Kenya
Police crack down on angry protesters
in Nairobi slum
Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times
Saturday, January 19, 2008
(01-19) 04:00 PST Nairobi, Kenya
Clashes between police and protesters in several cities resulted
in as many as 12 deaths Friday, bringing the toll to nearly two
dozen in three days of "mass actions," witnesses and officials
said.
The deadliest skirmishes occurred in the Nairobi slum of Kibera,
where angry youths tore up railway lines that run through the
restive district, connecting the Kenyan coastline to Uganda.
Protesters re-dubbed the broken transport line the "Odinga
Highway," in honor of opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Odinga challenged Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in the
controversial Dec. 27 presidential election. Violence has rocked
the East African country since Kibaki was declared the winner amid
allegations of widespread fraud. More than 600 have died in
post-election clashes.
Police, who have been criticized in recent days for their
heavy-handed approach to dealing with protesters, swarmed into the
rain-soaked Kibera slum in the late afternoon, firing tear gas and
live bullets.
Witnesses said between four and seven people were killed,
including a teenage girl who apparently was an innocent bystander.
"They were just firing indiscriminately and lobbing tear gas at
any people in their way," said John Lallo, 62, an unemployed
resident of Kibera. "I can't even say that this is unusual. They
use force like that every time there is a crisis."
In the coastal city of Mombasa, police battled scores of Muslim
protesters as they exited a mosque after Friday prayers. Four
people were reportedly shot, one fatally.
Odinga and human rights groups are calling for an investigation
into accusations of police brutality in recent days.
Government officials defended the police, saying they were not
dealing with peaceful marchers, but with angry young men who at
times have stoned them, burned homes and looted businesses.
"We are dealing with a mob psychology," said Kenyan police
spokesman Eric Kiraithe.
The government has imposed a ban on all demonstrations and has
prohibited television broadcasters from airing live coverage of
the violence.
Police are also grappling with an outburst in tribal violence set
off by the election dispute.
In southern Kenya on Friday, four people from Kibaki's Kikuyu
tribe were killed with poisoned arrows and machetes by members of
a rival Masai tribe near the city of Narok, a local government
official told Reuters.
Friday marked the official conclusion of nationwide protests
called by opposition forces. Internationally mediated peace talks
are due to start Tuesday when former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan arrives in Nairobi.
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