|
Annan meets Kenya's Odinga for
crisis talks
Sun 27 Jan 2008
By Daniel Wallis
NAIROBI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan met Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday as
ethnic violence in Rift Valley undermined efforts to mediate a
month-long crisis that has killed 750.
Annan visited the area on Saturday and warned that turmoil over
President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election had evolved into
something worse with "gross and systematic" rights abuses.
"Let us not kid ourselves and think that this is an electoral
problem. It's much broader and much deeper," he said.
"We have to tackle the fundamental issues that underlie what we
are witnessing today. If we do not do that, three, five years from
now we may be back at this."
The sudden slide of Nakuru, a previously calm tourist town, into
three days of tribal battles was some of the worst bloodshed since
Dec. 27 polls cast the country into chaos.
Hundreds have died in the turmoil and quarter of a million more
have been forced from their homes. Meanwhile, the unrest has
shattered the east African nation's image of stability and damaged
one of the continent's most promising economies.
Many Kenyans say leaders on both sides of the political divide
show few signs of addressing deep seated tribal rivalries over
land, business and power -- many of them born more than 45 years
ago under British colonial rule.
"The elections were just a veneer for hate that has simmered for
years," wrote columnist Gitau Warigi in the Sunday Nation.
A survey of more than 2,000 respondents in the same newspaper
showed only a narrow majority, 51.6 percent, of Kenyans believed
Annan would be able to resolve the crisis.
BURNT HOMES
Nakuru, a lakeshore town, had been spared the riots and ethnic
attacks that have convulsed parts of Kenya since the election,
which Odinga accuses Kibaki of rigging.
On Thursday, Annan brokered the first talks between the two men
since the troubles began, raising hopes. But the discussions
prompted fresh verbal attacks from both camps, and that night the
Rift Valley provincial capital descended into chaos.
Gangs from rival tribes armed with crude weapons clashed across
Nakuru and at least 27 people were killed as charred and hacked
bodies piled up at its morgue.
Local media said the three-day toll could reach around 50.
There were no reports of further fighting on Sunday, but torched
homes smouldered on the outskirts. Police were deployed in force
in the centre, but almost all businesses stayed closed.
The unrest has inflamed long-held rivalries between Kibaki's
Kikuyu tribe and members of the Luo and Kalenjin ethnic groups who
supported Odinga.
In the ethnically-mixed Rift Valley, the violence has also been
stoked by the settling of old scores, and angry youths on both
sides talk of revenge.
Cosmas Monyao, a Nakuru trader whose livelihood selling hats to
tourists has collapsed, was furious with his leaders.
"Me, I don't care what tribe you're from, you're spoiling my
business," he said.
"If Kibaki and Raila want to fight, why don't they just have a
fight man to man? They shouldn't involve the people."
(Additional reporting by Tim
Cocks in Nakuru and Joseph Sudah in Nairobi; Editing by Richard
Balmforth)
|
