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ETHNIC VIOLENCE
Bitter rivals sign plan to end crisis in Kenya
TOM MALITI
Associated Press
February 16, 2008
NAIROBI -- Kenya's political rivals announced yesterday a 10-point
plan to resolve their political crisis after weeks of negotiations
but they remained deadlocked over power sharing.
The two sides did make progress on other issues, including an
agreement for an independent review of the election at the centre
of their dispute. The Dec. 27 presidential vote unleashed weeks of
ethnic violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and
displaced hundreds of thousands.
"Let me assure you that there is real momentum," said former UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan, who is mediating the political talks.
"We are at the water's edge and the last difficult and frightening
step, as difficult as it is, will be taken," he told reporters.
Opposition Leader Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki have been
under international pressure to share power as a way to resolve
their dispute over who won the election. Mr. Odinga has said Mr.
Kibaki stole the vote and should step down. Mr. Kibaki has
insisted his position as President is not negotiable.
For some Kenyans, patience was wearing thin. Even if a political
solution comes soon, the damage done already to the national and
social fabric and to the economy will take years to reverse.
"Why are they not hitting the main issue so we can have a normal
life in Kenya?" 35-year-old Dan Omondi said in Kisumu, which has
seen some of the worst of the ethnic violence. "When you are
hungry, you need food, not appetizers."
Much of the violence has pitted other ethnic groups against Mr.
Kibaki's Kikuyu, long resented for their prominence in politics
and the economy.
The preliminary agreement signed Thursday after 48 hours of secret
talks calls for an independent review committee "to investigate
all aspects of the 2007 presidential election."
The committee will include Kenyan and non-Kenyan experts, start
work March 15 and submit its report within three to six months.
The report will be published two weeks later.
In the agreement, the government also acknowledged that the
dispute cannot be resolved in court because the deadline for
complaints expired earlier this year. Mr. Kibaki's government had
insisted that the opposition take its complaints to the courts,
while Mr. Odinga demanded that Mr. Kibaki step down.
The two sides have not agreed on whether to hold a rerun election,
as the opposition has demanded.
The agreement also calls for the two sides to draw up a new
constitution within a year, which could pave the way for a prime
minister's post or another way to share power.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due in Kenya on
Monday to call for an immediate end to the violence.
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