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Annan hopes for Kenyan deal next
week
08. 02. 2008
NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenya's political leaders on Friday agreed to
negotiate a settlement to end weeks of bloodshed, with chief
mediator Kofi Annan saying he hoped a deal could be reached early
next week.
After negotiations failed to yield a breakthrough, Annan met with
President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga who have
been locked in a dispute over the December presidential elections.
"I sincerely hope that we will conclude our work on item three,
the settlement of the political issues, by early next week," Annan
told a news conference.
"I hope, next week, we will have firm news for you," he said.
Negotiations led by the former UN secretary general entered a
crucial stage this week, with the government and the opposition
tackling head-on their dispute over the presidential polls.
"We are all agreed that a political settlement is needed, that a
political settlement is necessary and we are working out the
details of such a settlement," Annan said.
For weeks the government had maintained a hard line, arguing that
if the opposition wanted to challenge the results of the December
27 ballot, it would have to do so through the courts.
The opposition had rejected a legal challenge, saying the courts
were not independent and called on Kibaki to step down, refusing
to recognise his legitimacy.
In talks with Kibaki and Odinga, Annan said he "appealed to them
to support their negotiators and give them instructions to
cooperate and to settle."
More than 1,000 people have died in rioting, police raids and
clashes between rival tribes since the election that the
opposition claims was rigged.
International observers have also cited flaws in the tallying.
Four people were killed overnight in tribal violence in the Kisii
region of Nyanza province in western Kenya, two of whom were "hacked
to death", police said.
Nearly 50 people have been killed in violence in western Kenya
this week, some of whom were shot by police cracking down on gangs
who have torched houses and other property.
"I think everyone realises that we have a serious problem in the
country," Annan said. "We also accept that we have to find a way
of uniting and reconciling the nation."
Launched on January 29, Annan's mission is seen as Kenya's best
hope for resolving one of its worst crises since independence in
1963.
Some 300,000 people have been displaced in the clashes with relief
groups saying the upheaval could affect food security and the
health care system.
"In hospitals or clinics, the staff has been a victim of violence
and they have trouble getting into work," said Filipe Ribeiro, the
emergency aid coordinator in Kenya for Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
"The indirect consequence of the violences is that a child
suffering from cerebral malaria cannot be treated because there
are no nurses in the hospital," Ribeiro told AFP.
UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes began a three-day
mission to assess the humanitarian crisis and was due to travel
over the weekend to the Rift Valley, the epicentre of the violence.
East African foreign ministers called for an end to the violence,
throwing their support behind Annan's mediation after meeting with
the sides in Nairobi.
"We cannot afford (to see) Kenya continue the way it has been
immediately after the general elections were concluded and the
post-election dispute. This must be reversed," said Ethiopian
Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin on behalf of the foreign ministers.
The conflict has caused disruption in several landlocked
neighbouring countries which receive fuel and other supplies
through Kenya's transport routes.
The turmoil has delivered a crippling blow to Kenya's tourism
industry, the top foreign currency earner, while tea production
and agriculture have also been hard hit.
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