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Global talks focus on Kenya
Story by BARRY MOODYand DANIEL WALLIS
Publication Date: 2/1/2008
Kenya’s political crisis dominated discussions as the African
Union Summit opened in Addis Ababa, with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon
warning of catastrophe.
At least 850 people have died and 300,000 fled their homes since
the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.
“Violence continues, threatening to escalate to catastrophic
levels,” Mr Ban said, adding that President Kibaki and ODM leader
Raila Odinga must do everything possible to resolve the crisis.
Democratic process
Mr Ban called on the summit to “urge and encourage the leaders and
people of Kenya to calm the violence and resolve their differences
through dialogue and respect for the democratic process.”
Mr Alpha Oumar Konare, AU’s top diplomat, shared the concern,
saying it “had been a country of peace. If Kenya burns, what is
left?”
Until a month ago, Kenya was more used to attending summits of the
53-nation AU as a respected regional peacemaker and a refuge for
those fleeing wars. Now it is Africa’s biggest crisis, torn by a
cycle of ethnic bloodshed that threatens to destabilise a key
regional ally of the West and damage the economies of a swathe of
neighbouring countries.
Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade said in Addis Ababa: “It’s
unacceptable that right next to us, thousands of people are dying
and that we should just come here and then leave,” he told Radio
France International. “It is Africa’s image which is at stake in
this Kenya affair.”
Mr Kibaki had arrived for the summit, but made no comment. He has
only been recognised by a small number of African countries.
Mr Wade said he had spoken to Mr Odinga and believed he should be
allowed to go to Addis Ababa and address the summit — something
vehemently opposed by Kibaki’s government.
Kenya’s crisis presents the AU with the dilemma of either breaking
with its traditional reluctance to interfere in the internal
affairs of its members, or being seen as ineffectual. An early
mediation mission by outgoing AU chairman John Kufuor, the
president of Ghana, failed.
He handed over to Mr Ban’s predecessor, Kofi Annan, who has
brought Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga together for talks.
A second round of negotiations were planned but a solution still
seems far off despite heavy pressure from Western powers alarmed
by the crisis.
And on Wednesday, Kenya’s crisis was brought before the UN
Security Council, with members of the 15-nation global body
calling on the country’s leaders to work together to halt the
violence.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe
briefed the council at a closed-door meeting in New York. Mr
Pascoe afterward told reporters that “the real imperative is to
immediately stop the violence, and that is up to the leaders.”
His comments were echoed by the council’s current president
Giadalla Ettalhi of Libya. In a statement after the meeting, Mr
Ettalhi said council members had “called on Kenya’s leaders to do
all what is in their power to bring the violence to an end and to
restore calm”.
Mr Ettalhi confirmed that Kenya’s mission to the UN had asked that
Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula be invited to brief the Security
Council. But he said a date for such a briefing had not been set.
Council members – including the US, Britain, China, Russia and
France – are “very concerned” about the safety of 5,000 UN workers
in Kenya, Mr Pascoe added.
(Reuters)
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