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Opposition leader in Kenya
delays protests
27. Feb. 2008
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Kenya's opposition leader Wednesday called
off mass demonstrations that his supporters had threatened to hold
the next day.
Kofi Annan is meeting privately Wednesday with President Mwai
Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
Raila Odinga had warned of "mass action" to protest the lack of
progress in negotiations meant to resolve a political impasse with
President Mwai Kibaki and his supporters.
Odinga and Kibaki have been at odds since facing off in a December
27 election that international monitors describe as flawed. Kibaki
claimed victory and took the oath of office despite reported
irregularities. Violence that followed has killed at least 1,000
and displaced 300,000.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been overseeing talks
between the two sides meant to bridge the divide, but he suspended
those talks on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Odinga told reporters that his supporters would not
take to the streets -- for now -- in the kind of mass action that
has previously led to violence.
"We will delay mass action until further notice," he said.
Annan is meeting privately with Kibaki and Odinga.
"It is a crisis situation that we are trying to manage, and we
need to understand the urgency and the need for speed," Annan said
Tuesday. "I trust the two leaders understand this and will work
with me expeditiously to resolve the crisis the country is in.
Time is of the essence."
Earlier Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she
is "disappointed" over the stalemate in power-sharing negotiations
between rival Kenyan political parties and called for no further
violence.
"There can be no excuse for further delay," she said in a written
statement. "There can also be no excuse for violence, and those
responsible must be held accountable."
The government negotiating team confirmed that it had lodged a
complaint objecting to the suspension, saying progress was being
made.
"It is true tempers flared in the afternoon over certain issues,
but this is normal in negotiations," said negotiator Mutula
Kilonzo. "We are not unintelligent and we also felt that we were
being pushed, pushed and pushed, which is not fair."
The opposition party blamed Kibaki for the breakdown in talks.
"We always knew that the government plan was to drag this out for
long enough in the belief that Kenyans would allow the stolen
election to stand," said opposition spokesman Salim Lone.
Kibaki's win in the December voting was immediately called into
question with election observers from the European Union saying
they doubted the legitimacy of the count. Analysts said it was
probable that both of the main parties had been involved in
electoral fraud.
The fighting that followed the vote broke down along tribal lines.
Members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe and the Luos, the tribe of Odinga,
have been in the middle of the ethnic clashes.
The opposition party had said it would embark on a "mass civil
disobedience campaign" if its demands aren't met in negotiations.
Last month, such anti-government demonstrations turned violent,
prompting police to use tear gas to disburse protesters.
More than 270,000 displaced Kenyans remain in 200 camps; 12,000
others are being looked after in Ugandan camps and estimated half
million overall are in need of emergency shelter, water, food and
medical care, according to John Holmes, U.N.
under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, who briefed the
U.N. Security Council on Monday.
Holmes visited the region earlier this month.
"Common threads among all the displaced groups were their urgent
need for safety and security, particularly for women and children,
with some disturbing accounts of continuing abuses in and around
camps," he said in a written statement.
"I heard dreadful stories of murder, of rape and burning," he
added. "The ethnic basis of much of what happened was tragically
clear."
The implications of the violence are significant because of
Kenya's long-standing role as east Africa's main transport hub.
That means the fighting could disrupt the aid and humanitarian
efforts coming into a wide area.
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