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Annan Suspends Talks to End
Kenya Crisis
By TOM MALITI
26. Februar 2008
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Mediator Kofi Annan suspended on Tuesday the
talks to end Kenya's deadly postelection crisis after weeks of
negotiations brought little progress.
Annan said he will now meet with President Mwai Kibaki and
opposition leader Raila Odinga to try to spur progress.
"I hope people will understand this is a move intended to speed up
action," Annan said in announcing that he was calling off the
talks.
The negotiations have failed to resolve the dispute between Kibaki
and Odinga, who says the Dec. 27 presidential election was a sham.
Kibaki was declared the winner but international and local
monitors say the results were manipulated, making it unclear who
would have won.
Kenya was once a beacon of stability in a tumultuous region but
the contentious vote sparked widespread fighting as both sides
claimed victory. Violence has largely subsided in recent weeks,
but attacks that left more 1,000 dead and forced 600,000 from
their homes have left the country on edge and worried about the
potential for more unrest.
Kibaki was declared the winner of a second five-year term after
Odinga's lead in polls evaporated overnight.
Much of the postelection violence has been ethnic, between
supporters of Kibaki, a Kikuyu, and groups who back Odinga, a Luo.
The suspension of talks came as international pressure mounted and
the opposition threatened to resume nationwide protests this week.
Previous protests have turned violent, with dozens killed as
police forced back the crowds.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a statement saying
the delays were inexcusable.
"There can also be no excuse for violence, and those responsible
must be held accountable," she said.
Rice also issued a veiled threat, saying the U.S. relationship
with any future Kenyan political leadership was at stake.
"I want to emphasize that the future of our relationship with both
sides and their legitimacy hinges on their cooperation to achieve
this political solution," Rice said.
Annan said late Monday that almost no progress had been made in
the talks.
"I had to conclude that they were not capable of resolving the
outstanding issues," he said. Annan said the mediation team "has
done its work. I'm now asking the party leaders ... to do theirs."
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the current head of the
African Union, was scheduled to arrive in the Kenyan capital
Tuesday to "give support to the mediation process," said his
spokesman Premy Kibanga. He said the Tanzanian president will meet
with Kibaki, Odinga and Annan.
Negotiators for Kibaki and Odinga had agreed in principle to
create a new prime minister's post for the opposition, but
sticking points remained over just how much power such a post
would carry.
Still, government officials had maintained that they continued to
inch closer to a deal.
"We've agreed on some issues," Foreign Affairs Minister Moses
Wetangula said after a morning negotiating session, declining to
give details. "The more we talk the more we get closer to agreeing,"
he said.
Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement, meanwhile, filed notice
giving police the required three days' notice for a gathering
planned Thursday.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said police had not yet decided
whether to allow the demonstration.
"We are evaluating the proposal on its on merit," he said. "Each
application is evaluated according to its merits and demerits...
We are yet to decide."
The party had already threatened mass protests if a deal was not
reached by Wednesday.
Throughout the talks, low-level unrest has continued. Over the
weekend, police said eight houses were burning in a western
village in an ethnically motivated attack.
On Monday, police in the western town of Kitale arrested more than
200 youths accused of training to form a militia to protect ethnic
groups seen as backing Kibaki in the opposition-dominated west.
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