A new flare-up of violence shook Kenya on Friday and fresh political recriminations dulled hopes a breakthrough meeting between the president and opposition leader could resolve a month-long crisis.
The local Red Cross said ethnic clashes related to a disputed December 27 election had engulfed areas around the Kenyan town of Nakuru, causing three deaths, hundreds of injuries, and thousands of displacements.
”As we talk, Nakuru town has been shut down … My staff have carried three dead bodies and hundreds are injured in hospital,” Kenya Red Cross head Abbas Gullet said.
Nearly a month of unrest has killed 700 people but hopes for a solution grew on Thursday when former United Nations secreatary general Kofi Annan brought Kenya’s political rivals together for first talks on how to end their stand-off.
The smiles and handshake between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga were quickly followed by new accusations.
On Friday, Odinga urged the African Union to avoid endorsing Kibaki’s re-election at its upcoming summit in Ethiopia and ruled out taking a new post of prime minister in Kibaki’s government to resolve the dispute.
He told Reuters the only three acceptable options would be Kibaki’s resignation, a vote re-run, or power-sharing then a new election.
Odinga’s party protested on Thursday that Kibaki’s description of himself as ”duly elected president” after the talks with Odinga was provocative given the opposition argues he won through fraud.
On Friday, Odinga said Kibaki’s remarks after their meeting were ”embarrassing” but would not stop the opposition leader meeting his rival again.
Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) accuses the opposition of pre-planning violence against Kibaki’s Kikuyu community and says it should respect the Electoral Commission of Kenya’s verdict that he won.
Foreign pressure
While the Kibaki-Raila meeting was applauded around the world — including in statements from the European Union and US presidential candidate Barack Obama — diplomats expressed concern for the future of the mediation process.
Western powers have criticised the presidential vote as deeply flawed, particularly in the tallying process, and are pushing for some sort of power-sharing arrangement.
”The symbolism of the handshake was great, and we hope this will have a calming effect,” a diplomat said. ”But you can see the sides are still far apart. It’s going to be long and hard.”
Newspaper headlines read: ”Hope At Last”, ”The First Step” and ”A Handshake For Peace”, but leading newspaper, the Daily Nation, made clear there was a long way to go.
”We must not delude ourselves that anything stupendous has been achieved. Even the brief speeches delivered indicated that there is still a deep gulf,” it said. – Reuters